


EXO: Hitmen Services

by purplemonster



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Hitman AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2019-08-27 02:40:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 44,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16693879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplemonster/pseuds/purplemonster
Summary: Hitman AU





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A totally random fic. It's gonna be filled with violence, crack, angst, smut and well... hmmm, what else. I'm not sure exactly. I'm making this up as I go along. But really, please take note of those warnings. If you're not okay with killings and violence and maybe gore??? Don't read.
> 
> This baeksoo. Mainly. But also suchen. And xiuhan. And sort of chanxing. And also sekai. \O/ Some chapters will not be continuous.
> 
> (Yes, this is the fic from 3 years ago I never finished I'm so sorry! I'll finish it here.)

Baekhyun is fucked.  
  
It's his first day on the job and he's fucked. The walls are splattered with blood, there are three bodies all sprawled out on the floor dead, and sounds of someone (he's not sure of the count yet but he's guessing maybe two) yelling and banging on the other side of the door. They've probably already called for backup which Baekhyun supposes will arrive in two minutes.  
  
And well, his target is still in the room with him, a gunshot wound to his knee which Baekhyun was responsible for earlier. He's alive too which makes everything more difficult.  
  
He is so _fucked_.  
  
"You do realize," His target breathes, a heavyweight bald man with an ugly looking mustache on his face. “That you'll never be able to get out of here alive."  
  
Despite the situation, Baekhyun gives a small chuckle.  
  
"I've been in worse scenarios than this," He replies, eyes roaming the ceiling for an exit since the windows don't seem to be a good idea.  
  
He really should've taken Jongdae's advice to bring a harness.  
  
"Worse than you having nowhere to escape and no more bullets in your gun to finish me off?" The man laughs and then wheezes from the pain in his knee, something Baekhyun is pleased to see even if that had been an accident.  
  
"I don't really need bullets to finish you off," Baekhyun replies and the man's eyes widen.  
  
"You wouldn't- EXO doesn't work that way," He says, alarmed now.  
  
No, they don't. It's stated in the handbook. They can only kill using the weapons Jongdae gave them. Anything else isn't allowed since it leaves traces. And a job must be done quickly and as painless as possible. So definitely no choking, no stabbing (unless it’s done with their own weapons and as swift as they can), no bashing of any skulls. But in all honesty, Baekhyun is just stalling. He's grateful he has a talent for being so chatty.  
  
"We changed the rules," Baekhyun shrugs, pushing a window open and checking to see how high up he is.  _Nope_ , he thinks, stepping back. Jumping is definitely not an option.  
  
The banging and the yelling are getting louder and Baekhyun winces at the thought of getting busted. He really can't get fired. He likes his new boss and his new office and the new guys he's working with. He also really doesn't want to let go of the lease on his apartment.  
  
"When I get out of here, I'll spread the word how EXO aren't playing nice-"  
  
"Then I'll just make sure you won't get out of here," Baekhyun smiles sweetly at his target.  
  
There are suddenly gunshots, loud gunshots coming from the other side of the door causing him to duck under a nearby table. Shit, shit, Baekhyun thinks. He really needs to get out of here.  
  
The gunshots go on four more times and the sound of it has Baekhyun looking frantically around for any kind of exit or even for just a decent weapon. He can imagine the teasing he’ll get from Jongdae and Chanyeol when they hear about this. _You can’t bring just that_ , Jongdae had said to him when Baekhyun had asked for a gun.  _You’re an idiot if you bring just one,_  Chanyeol had chimed in.  
  
He is an idiot. He brought only one.  
  
_Nevermind,_  Baekhyun thinks. He’ll just talk his way out if it. He’s done that before. Bad jokes always gets him out the scene alive.  
  
The sudden quiet makes Baekhyun pop his head up halfway on top of the table. He has his hold on his gun which is now useless except he’s thinking of throwing it at whoever comes at him first.  
  
The door opens and a few bodies from the other side slump to the ground. Baekhyun is confused. Why would his target’s backup kill his own men?  
  
Except that there isn’t any back up. Or maybe this is the backup in the form of a small person dressed in black, half of his face concealed due to the black beanie on his head.  
  
“Who the hell are you?” His target asks gruffly before the man who just came in shoots him right in the chest confirming that this is definitely not his back up.  
  
"Hey," Baekhyun whines, standing up and revealing himself. "He was my target!"  
  
The man points the gun at Baekhyun.  
  
"Woah, woah," Baekhyun says with his hands up. “I’m on your side.”  
  
He doesn’t know that. He doesn’t even know who this person is.  
  
The man doesn’t seem to be convinced as he just shoots him. Luckily, Baekhyun is quick and he ducks back down the table and scrambles for cover.  
  
“Hey! No, seriously!” Baekhyun yelps as another gunshot is heard, one that’s dangerously close.  
  
He crawls underneath the table but is yanked on his feet. His back slides against the floor and before he can say anything else, the cold metal of a gun is pressing up against the underside of his neck and he’s staring up at the man with the ridiculously huge beanie on his head.  
  
“Hi,” Baekhyun says nervously, still managing a small uncomfortable laugh. “You don’t suppose we can work this out?”  
  
The man just presses the gun deeper to him and Baekhyun tenses up.  
  
“Alright, alright,” He’s thinking of what else to say when something catches his eye. Something silver and shiny and small pinned to the man’s collar. He knows that symbol.  
  
Baekhyun’s eyes widen. “Hey, you’re EXO.”  
  
The man seems to be surprised at this, the weight of the gun slightly easing up.  
  
“You’re EXO,” Baekhyun says gleefully. “You’re EX-”  
  
Baekhyun let’s out a garbled tone when the man’s gloved hand covers his mouth.  
  
“Shut up,” He says, voice low and irritated. “One more and I’m really going to kill you.”  
  
Baekhyun is so surprised someone from his office is here but apparently, now is not the time for questions. The man he’s with is too busy attaching something on Baekhyun’s belt.  
  
“Boy am I glad the office sent you. I mean, I would be dead by now if it wasn’t for your help- What are you doing?”  
  
His question goes unanswered when the man pulls him up, wraps an arm around his waist and pulls him by his side to the window.  
  
“Just make sure you don’t scream,” He says.  
  
That doesn’t happen though. Because as soon as the man jumps pulling Baekhyun with him down the window, Baekhyun screams like a banshee.


	2. Chapter 2

"What part of _'do the job clean and quick'_ did you not get?"  
  
There had been no introductions, no friendly greetings. There had only been a lot of grabbing and yanking and pulling Baekhyun inside his car, making a call to the boss and then driving away from the scene before the police can get there. If the police do get there. In this kind of business, the police are rarely involved with them. Why would they? The hitmen business deal with personal issues in the underground and the police would love nothing more and could care less if every hitmen just wiped out each other’s existence.  
  
Baekhyun doesn’t know who his savior’s name is. But he knows that the man knows his name from that call he made to the boss. At a closer look, the man is quite cute rather than scary. He had taken off his gloves along with his beanie before they drove away, his hair falling to his eyes, and Baekhyun thinks he’s rather handsome. Not at all like the small thug he thought he was when he entered through that door.  
  
“And what kind of hitman shoots his target _accidentally?_ ”  
  
Baekhyun winces at that.  
  
“There were four people in that room and I didn’t even realize I was running out of ammunition-”  
  
“What kind of hitman doesn’t keep track of his ammunition?”  
  
“- And I was trying to get to my target when I tripped and shot him in the wrong place by accident-”  
  
“You _tripped?_ ”  
  
“It was very messy in there,” Baekhyun says, unzipping his jacket so he can breathe easier.  
  
“One you created, no doubt.” The man mutters under his breath.  
  
Baekhyun pouts. “Can’t you cut me a bit of slack? It’s my first day on the job.“  
  
The car halts and Baekhyun is grabbed by the collar harshly.  
  
“You’re a _hitman_. You’re not allowed a _bit_ of slack,” The man hisses, his face just inches away from him and Baekhyun isn’t even afraid of those round angry (well, more like pissed off) eyes.  
  
 _He really is kind of cute_ , Baekhyun thinks as the man lets go, settles back in his seat, jaw tight, and continues driving.  
  
They arrive back at the office, not even stopping to return their weapons or have their injuries checked (not that they have any except for maybe a few bruises in Baekhyun’s part and a sore throat from yelling as he flew down that window). The man just continues down to the boss’ office, still with his hand wrapped tightly around Baekhyun’s wrist. Baekhyun has been whining on and on about him dragging him along but his whines fell to deaf ears.  
  
The man doesn’t knock. He just barges in and their boss, Junmyeon, looks up happily from where he was signing some papers.  
  
“Ah, Kyungsoo. It’s so nice of you to drop by,” He greets. “And I see you’ve met a fellow colleague?”  
  
Baekhyun likes his boss. He likes that Kim Junmyeon is a handsome young man with soft features and a presence that doesn’t make him feel like he’s walking on eggshells all the time. Unlike his previous employment where his boss never even smiled once, Junmyeon smiles all the time.  
  
“What,” The man, his savior, Kyungsoo, starts, pulling Baekhyun inside and then dragging him in front of Junmyeon’s desk as if showing a piece of trash. “Is this?”  
  
“This is Byun Baekhyun. Our newest recruit,” Junmyeon explains then turns to him and smiles. “How was your first day?”  
  
“Good,” Baekhyun answers carefully. Junmyeon doesn’t seem to be angry at what just happened and he’d like to keep it that way. Or the boss just hasn’t heard about it yet.  
  
“Good?” Kyungsoo shoots him a look. “You didn’t even kill your target.”  
  
“You didn’t?” Junmyeon stands up, suit still looking neatly pressed despite it being late in the evening already.  
  
Junmyeon heads to the mini bar to pour them all a drink. “That’s too bad. It would’ve been added to your evaluation.”  
  
“Will that get me fired?” Baekhyun asks.  
  
Junmyeon laughs. “Of course not! It’s your first day! Sehun wasn’t able to kill anyone on his first week and he’s still here.” He then hands both of them a glass. “It’s ionized water. I only allow my men healthy drinks.”  
  
Baekhyun takes it even if he doesn’t like ionized water. He’d prefer a Red Bull but he doesn’t want to be rude.  
  
“I’d like to know why I was sent to babysit this…” Kyungsoo looks at Baekhyun and Baekhyun gives him a smile and holds up a peace sign from where he’s standing. Kyungsoo doesn’t look at all pleased by that and turns to Junmyeon, ignoring the drink he’s being offered with. “I’d like to know why I was sent to babysit him tonight.”  
  
Junmyeon rounds the desk to get back to his chair.  
  
“It’s not babysitting, Kyungsoo,” Junmyeon says, sitting down and flicking imaginary dirt on his cuffs. He motions to the chairs behind them to sit. Baekhyun does so but Kyungsoo doesn’t. “It’s called being Baekhyun’s backup.”  
  
Baekhyun settles back in his seat. Cool. They have backup. His last job made him do all the work alone and it had been kind of lonely.  
  
“There was nothing in the contract that says I can be someone else’s backup,” Kyungsoo answers.  
  
“There was,” Junmyeon smiles at him, face all angelic and handsome and Baekhyun wonders why he’s even running a business like this when he can probably work as a model. It’s probably much fun and less taxing than this.  
  
“Section four point three under the rights of the employer,” Junmyeon swivels in his chair, opens a file cabinet by his side and retrieves Kyungsoo’s file then quotes. _“The employer has the right to send their employee as back up once in their entire employment under EXO.”_  
  
Baekhyun turns to Kyungsoo. He has never seen someone glower so much.  
  
“Let me see that.” Kyungsoo takes the contract from Junmyeon and Baekhyun watches as his eyes go from left to right as he reads the documents.  
  
It turns out Junmyeon was right and Kyungsoo returns the papers, the edges of it looking slightly crumpled from where he was holding it in annoyance.  
  
“It says once,” Kyungsoo says. “That means I’m not saving his ass or anyone else’s ass the next time.”  
  
“That is correct,” Junmyeon nods. “Although I would be grateful if you can save their asses more than once. I find my men’s asses to be quite valuable.”  
  
“Well not to me,” Kyungsoo says gruffly and he turns to the door, a sign that says he’s about to leave and he’s not taking Baekhyun with him this time.  
  
“I’ll see you on your next mission, Kyungsoo,” Junmyeon says cheerfully and Baekhyun waves him a goodbye.  
  
Kyungsoo only responds by slamming the door behind them.  
  
“Well,” Junmyeon clasps his hands together as he faces Baekhyun. “I take it you had a memorable first day.”  
  
“I did,” Baekhyun nods.  
  
“Wonderful,” Junmyeon beams. “I really hope you’ll like it here.”  
  
Baekhyun gives him a bubbly smile.  
  
“I think I already do.”


	3. Chapter 3

“One iced caffe latte for Chanyeol.”  
  
Chanyeol doesn’t look up from his computer as Jongdae places his drink on his desk but does thank him as he passes by.  
  
“One organic iced green tea for Yixing hyung.”  
  
“Thanks Jongdae,” Yixing smiles up at him as he takes his drink.  
  
“Americano for Minseokkie hyung.” Jongdae sticks his hand out the hallways as Minseok jogs past him on cue, takes the drink and waves as he leaves for his mission.  
  
“Thanks!” Minseok calls out before the elevator doors can close.  
  
“And one skinny latte for Baekhyun.” Jongdae places it on the floor beside the newbie who’s crouched down on the ground tying his shoes up before he too leaves for his first mission.  
  
“Thanks.”  
  
“Seriously man, bring a harness,” Jongdae says when he sees Baekhyun with just a gun on his holster.  
  
“Oh it’s fine,” Baekhyun grins at him, looking up momentarily then concentrating on his shoelaces again. “I’ll be in and out quick. Besides, Chanyeol has my back with all the video surveillance he can hack in.”  
  
Jongdae snorts. “Provided he doesn’t get distracted with that video game of his.”  
  
Chanyeol lets out a booming “Yes!”, fist pumped in the air at the sudden victory of whatever he’s playing at.  
  
Baekhyun’s brow furrows. “He won’t, right?”  
  
Jongdae gives him a knowing smile. “Just bring a harness.”  
  
“I like to pack light.” Baekhyun stands up, patting the gun by his side as he slips his jacket on.  
  
“See you guys tonight. Or tomorrow!” He calls out, taking his drink with him.  
  
“Don’t die!” Yixing yells back cheerily while Chanyeol and Jongdae waves.  
  
Once the elevator doors close and his game is done, Chanyeol looks up from his computer and says, “He is so fucked.”  
  
Jongdae just nods in agreement.  
  
“I guess we’ll have to send in backup during his first mission.” Yixing adds, taking a sip from his drink.  
  
“You guys want to watch him?” Chanyeol points at the CCTV screen. “There’s still popcorn in the pantry left, I think.”  
  
“No. We finished that while we watched Jongin and Sehun get their ass whooped on their last mission,” Yixing says, raising his drink at that.  
  
“You remembered.”  
  
Jongdae tries not to roll his eyes at the way Chanyeol sounded so pleased. It’s no secret how Chanyeol looks at their in-house doctor. Well, except Yixing himself who just seems oblivious to Chanyeol’s longing stares, and how everytime he needs something typed or needs help with paying bills online, or when he can’t understand the workings of anything computer related, Chanyeol is conveniently there available to help him with all of it.  
  
“I could rush down the nearest mart for more,” Chanyeol says eagerly but Yixing only shakes his head and smiles.  
  
“That’s alright. I can’t stay anyway. I have this medical convention I need to attend. Meet people. Put in a good word for EXO.”  
  
Jongdae sees Chanyeol sag in his seat looking like a deflated balloon.  
  
“See you guys in a bit,” Yixing stands up from his seat, taking his drink and his lab coat with him where he had hung it on the back of his chair and heading towards his clinic where Jongdae knows he still has work to do.  
  
“I should tell Yixing hyung to tell you I need more microfiber cloths for polishing our equipment so I can have it right away,” Jongdae comments as soon as Yixing’s out of sight. “You’d get it for him much faster than the time it takes for me to walk down Junmyeon hyung’s office and file a request form.”  
  
Chanyeol makes a sound of annoyance. “You going to tease me again, Kim?”  
  
Jongdae laughs, ruffling his friend’s hair. Chanyeol winces but doesn’t make a move to slap his hand away.  
  
“Nope, not right now.” Jongdae moves away from him and picks up the last remaining drink he bought from the coffee shop on his way to work. “Boss needs his morning coffee and you know how he can be without it.”  
  
This time, it’s Chanyeol who eyes him a teasing look and a grin forms on his face.  
  
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t pick up his coffee diligently every morning.”  
  
Jongdae just silently hums in reply as he balances a couple of muffins on his other arm.  
  
“That still isn’t going anywhere, I see.” Chanyeol asks, voice lilting.  
  
“I don’t know what you see.” Jongdae spins around to look at him as he starts walking backwards out of their office. “And nothing is going anywhere because I never left.”  
  
Jongdae makes sure he’s out the door and into the halls before Chanyeol can groan out loud in his face and start pestering him to just make a move already. He’s heard that more than a dozen times from his friend and one more would make his ears burst.  
  
He knows Chanyeol only wants what’s best for him. But Jongdae can’t take that advice --  _to make a move_. Sure he may harbor some deep affectionate feelings for his boss, one that he has managed to keep a secret (save for Chanyeol knowing but that was by accident, to which he promised he wouldn’t tell anyone) for over a couple of years now. But his boss is a good and responsible man, a man who has a lot of things on his plate every day and Jongdae doesn’t want to bother him with his own personal matters such as wanting to be more than just his employee and the head of the firearms department in EXO.  
  
He likes what they have now. Jongdae is contented with picking up his coffee, keeping a protective eye on him and the rest of the guys, making sure Junmyeon is well fed and actually remembers to go home and get some sleep. He can stay this way for the rest of his life.  
  
But it’s also another thing to deny it to a friend out loud and then deny it to yourself silently in the other.  
  
Jongdae switches the cup of coffee to his muffin-filled arm and uses his now free hand to knock.  
  
“Come in.” Comes Junmyeon’s voice and Jongdae twists the doorknob and enters.  
  
Junmyeon’s office is spotless. It’s a nice sight to see when you’re sharing an office with Chanyeol and the whole place is a mess. Jongdae may work with firearms a lot but he manages to keep his area clean. But somehow, Chanyeol’s ethernet cables and hard drives always manage to litter his side of the office.  
  
“Oh, Jongdae.” Junmyeon is standing behind his desk and he looks up from the map he has lying out on top of it as he enters. “You know you didn’t have to knock.”  
  
“I wanted to. You could’ve been in a meeting.”  
  
“At nine in the morning? You know better than that. In this line of work, no one is up at nine in the morning.”  
  
“Except for Minseok hyung,” Jongdae replies. “He’s already out there for his three pm mission.”  
  
“Ah well, Minseok always likes to scout by his area hours before a mission.That or he just spends the rest of the day with Luhan before getting down to business.” Junmyeon helps him with the muffins. “I take it these are for me?”  
  
“And the usual.” Jongdae hands him his usual brewed coffee.  
  
“Thank you Jongdae. Although I hope you know you don’t have to do this every morning.” Junmyeon smiles. Jongdae tries not to melt at that.  
  
“It’s no problem, hyung,” Jongdae replies.  
  
Junmyeon looks nice today. Well, Kim Junmyeon looks nice every day. He’s in a suit as always, a dark blue one with his jacket unbuttoned in the front. Junmyeon doesn’t impose a strict dress code at the office, to which everyone is thankful for. But he’s inclined to wear one everyday since he deals with meetings and sees his father often.  
  
“Stay for awhile.” Junmyeon motions to the seat in front of his desk and Jongdae sits. Junmyeon always tells him to stay awhile every time Jongdae visits. He likes that he tells him to and not ask. It means he wants company and Jongdae is glad he’s being upfront about it.  
  
“Are you looking for something?” Jongdae asks, eyeing the map that’s spread out on the table.  
  
“Just trying to study Jongin’s next location before sending it to Chanyeol to have it programmed on the GPS.”  
  
“The digital maps are more updated.” Jongdae points out.  
  
“Well you know me,” Junmyeon sheepishly looks at him. “I’m bad at those things more than Yixing.”  
  
Jongdae finds this cute that their boss who runs one of the top hitmen businesses and calls the shots doesn’t know shit about technology and relies on his IT guy for help most of the time.  
  
“I could help you.” Jongdae finds himself offering. “I mean, if you aren’t busy.”  
  
He’s starting to sound like Chanyeol whenever Yixing is in need of assistance. He really shouldn't tease him about it.  
  
To his surprise, Junmyeon breaks out into a wide smile that has Jongdae feel like if he were to open up his own chest, he’d see his heart turn into a puddle of goo. Junmyeon always smiles and laughs, but to be able to bring that out himself is an entirely different thing.  
  
“I’d like that. We could start now,” Junmyeon says, pulling out his own GPS from his drawer. “I already have the location. Jongin will make the drop here-”  
  
Junmyeon’s phone rings before he can continue and he holds up a finger for Jongdae.  
  
“Excuse me a moment. Hello?”  
  
Jongdae’s eyes are trained on the map but his attention is in the way Junmyeon is talking to someone, a business client or an informant perhaps. He likes the way Junmyeon deals with business. Out of all the hitmen companies he has worked for, EXO is the most humane. He’d like to think it's because of how Junmyeon runs things. Sure, killing people isn’t what anyone would deem an honorable job. But they have a strict policy when it comes to these things. Junmyeon only accepts certain missions, like taking down cold hard criminals. There’s also a strict rule in taking them out quick and swiftly so as not to cause too much suffering. Jongdae likes that about EXO. He likes that about Junmyeon.  
  
“I see. Could you hold on a second for me." Jongdae hears Junmyeon say and he looks up when Junmyeon presses a hand over the speaker.  
  
“I’m sorry Jongdae but maybe we can do this another time?” Junmyeon is looking at him apologetically.  
  
“No problem,” Jongdae replies. Of course it wasn’t a problem. Junmyeon never causes him problems.  
  
“Thank you.” Junmyeon gives him one last smile before turning his attention back to whoever it is he’s speaking with.  
  
Jongdae lets himself out and he walks back towards his and Chanyeol’s office.  
  
“So did you get yourself a date? Or his phone number perhaps?” Chanyeol says without looking up at him. He’s back to playing his game, his iced caffe latte already drained clean.  
  
“There is no date. And we all have his phone number already. Company rules to have the boss’s number on speed dial.”  
  
“You know what I meant.”  
  
Jongdae laughs. “No. I don’t. So drop it. And scoot over. I want to play.”  
  
They end up playing some racing game. Jongdae garners more wins than Chanyeol and the latter concedes defeat by buying him lunch.  
  
It’s a fairly busy day after that but all the while, he looks forward to tomorrow when he can stop by Junmyeon’s office again and see him smile.


	4. Chapter 4

When Baekhyun visits Kyungsoo’s place the first time, he’s met with a knife pressed up against his throat and his arm almost getting broken.  
  
Junmyeon warned him about that. Chanyeol and Jongdae too. Even Minseok managed to tell him not to expect Kyungsoo to welcome him warmly into his home. If he even calls it a home.  
  
Kyungsoo lives on a rundown dilapidated apartment building far off into the city’s port. The whole place is in ruins. The windows all barred up along with the entrance and there’s a “Keep Out” sign out front. The paint from the walls are faded and peeling and the grass outside looks like it hadn’t been tended to in a long time. It has that haunted house or grumpy old man esque one can think of when passing by. It’s even located in a quiet neighborhood with graffiti all over the premises and only the sound of water slapping against the port and the seagulls squawking can be heard.  
  
But Baekhyun was on a mission and even though that wasn’t an official mission where he needed to be armed, it’s more like an office work that none of the guys could do at that moment and Baekhyun was the only one free to deliver those documents, he had to see it through.  
  
And he did, braving the tall grass and the barbed fence. He would probably be buried underneath a pile of debris if the whole building collapsed and no one would know. He doesn’t understand why Kyungsoo would be living in a place like this when their paychecks can let them afford living in a more luxurious home. But Baekhyun hadn’t questioned it further when he arrived at the floor he was told Kyungsoo’s apartment would be in and was instantly pressed against the faded walls face first, a knife to his throat and his arm bent in a very painful and awkward angle behind his back.  
  
That was Kyungsoo’s way of welcoming him and a sign to never come back.  
  
He was sent there to deliver documents to Kyungsoo personally because Junmyeon has a habit of having their missions delivered rather than sent thru email. Chanyeol can secure their connection really well but after a mission that was hacked in the last time (way before Baekhyun was hired and one that Chanyeol has learned from), Junmyeon only trusts his men to deliver the missions personally themselves.  
  
There’s really no need for anyone to deliver missions anyway if Kyungsoo would just come in at the office. But for some reason, out of all of Junmyeon’s men, Kyungsoo is the only person who rarely comes in. He only comes in to pick up his gear from Jongdae on the day he’s on a scheduled mission and then return them again. But after that, the rest of EXO don’t see him. Junmyeon would give him all his scheduled missions whenever he drops by but if he isn’t around, he has them delivered.  
  
Minseok is the one who usually delivers Kyungsoo’s missions. Sometimes Jongdae. Because Minseok and Jongdae are the only people Kyungsoo gets along with.  
  
But that day, Baekhyun was the only one available to deliver them and he swears under his breath this could possibly be his last.  
  
“Don’t ever come back here,” Kyungsoo had said, taking the envelope from Baekhyun’s hands and retreating to a door that Baekhyun only assumes is his place.  
  
Baekhyun had left huffing how he didn’t even get a thanks.  
  


* * *

  
The second time Baekhyun delivers Kyungsoo’s mission, it isn’t the faded walls Baekhyun is pressed unto but the wooden floors.  
  
Kyungsoo is on top of his back, his knee pressed sharply down his spine and Baekhyun had to stay put otherwise he’ll break his back.  
  
“I thought I told you to keep out of here,” Kyungsoo says, tightening his hold on Baekhyun’s arms.  
  
“You did,” Baekhyun grunts, wondering why is this the kind of welcome he gets from him. “But you have a scheduled mission in two days and Junmyeon sent me to give it to you.”  
  
Kyungsoo only lets him up when Baekhyun assures him no one saw or followed him in here.  
  
“Are you going to let me in?” Baekhyun asks peeking over Kyungsoo’s shoulder when the latter opens the door to his apartment. He’s curious about the place he’s living in and what kind of person Kyungsoo is. People always say you can tell what kind of person is with the way they tidy up around their place and Baekhyun wants to know.  
  
Kyungsoo had just looked at him.  
  
“I need to pee.” Baekhyun reasons out.  
  
Kyungsoo only slams the door in his face.  
  
Baekhyun ends up leaving but he does stop outside to pee all over Kyungsoo’s “garden”.  
  


* * *

  
Baekhyun asks Minseok one day what’s the deal with Kyungsoo not letting anyone in his “house”.  
  
“Oh don’t take it personally,” Minseok says. They’re at the office even if it’s a slow day and Baekhyun is playing around with his phone on his desk. They don’t really have to come in every day but Baekhyun likes hanging around Jongdae and Chanyeol and the rest of the guys now that he spends most of his time at the office rather than at home.  
  
“I shouldn’t?” Baekhyun asks. “Not even when I had a knife on my throat and my back almost broken?”  
  
Minseok laughs, throwing the paper plane he had been playing with in the air. It lands on top of Baekhyun’s head.  
  
“Yes. Kyungsoo’s a very careful person. That was just him taking precaution.”  
  
“From what?”  
  
Minseok shrugs. “From everything. Our lives aren’t exactly safe. Don’t you put up security measures around your place?”  
  
Baekhyun does. He has locks on all his windows. Three on his door.  
  
Minseok doesn’t explain the state of the building Kyungsoo is living though. He doesn’t know what’s up with that. Jongdae supposes it’s just Kyungsoo’s way of hiding himself.  
  
Baekhyun thinks that’s a very strange and dangerous way of hiding.  
  


* * *

  
He asks Kyungsoo why he’s living in a place like that when he delivers another mission to him. This time, Kyungsoo doesn’t handle him roughly or slam the door in his face. He meets him outside as he stands on the docks with the collar of his coat turned up and his beanie engulfing his head. He knew Baekhyun was coming. Baekhyun didn’t know how he knew.  
  
“It’s convenient for me.” Kyungsoo just says after taking his mission from Baekhyun. Baekhyun cannot understand how in the world could it possibly be convenient for him. Baekhyun goes thru a barbed fence, through tall grasses, fit himself through a broken window and climb up a creaky staircase just to get to Kyungsoo’s floor.  
  
Unless Kyungsoo uses a hidden elevator. But Baekhyun doubts a thing like that can work in a really old building.  
  
“So you’re not planning on moving then? Or maybe get a safety permit? Or do you already have one? What if someone finds his way in there? What if someone is already living in there and you just don’t know?”  
  
Kyungsoo just looks at him funny. Baekhyun can’t help it. Kyungsoo is a mysterious person and Baekhyun wants to figure him out.  
  
“You talk too much,” Kyungsoo just says, turning around and going back to his rundown apartment leaving Baekhyun just watching his small form retreat.  
  


* * *

  
The next time Baekhyun delivers Kyungsoo’s mission (he doesn’t protest whenever Junmyeon gives it to him now since he finds that he likes visiting Kyungsoo in his home despite the sore muscles afterwards from all the stealthy climbing he has to do), he’s welcomed with a trail of blood on the ground leading to the open door of Kyungsoo’s apartment.  
  
Naturally, Baekhyun is hesitant about stepping inside when Kyungsoo has made it clear he’s not welcome in there. But it’s also his job to see if he’s alright. Well, not really a job since he’s not paid to ensure Kyungsoo’s well being. But he’d like to think of himself as his friend and a friend should see to it that he isn’t harmed.  
  
So Baekhyun steps past the door, notices how clean the place is and not at all falling apart like the exterior gives off. Kyungsoo’s place is actually quite nice. The walls are beige and white. He doesn’t have a TV but he has a couch with a coffee table and a book case. He has a tablet with earphones still plugged in them and a newspaper lying on the floor that’s dated yesterday.  
  
Baekhyun remembers the blood and follows after it. He quickly takes in the small kitchen with only a small dining area. Just two seats in a small table. He walks past a closed door which he presumes is the bedroom and he follows the trail of blood to the bathroom where he sees Kyungsoo sitting on top of a closed lid of the toilet applying a bandage around his bloody arm messily.  
  
Kyungsoo looks up at him, dried blood caked on one corner of his lip.  
  
“You can leave the mission on the coffee table,” He says quietly, getting back to wrapping the bandage on his arm. He says this as if Baekhyun didn’t just walk through the door of the one place he didn’t want anyone coming over.  
  
Baekhyun leaves the envelope by the sink and quickly tends to him. Baekhyun kneels in front of him so he can take a look at his injury. Kyungsoo lets him, his hands shaking from the obvious pain he must be feeling. He’s no Yixing but as he unwraps the bandage and sees it, Baekhyun knows it needs stitching up.  
  
“The bullet’s still inside,” Baekhyun says already reaching for his phone to call Yixing. They’ve been briefed about this. No one is to go to a hospital when this happens and he presumes that’s what Kyungsoo has been trying to do. Cover himself up before getting to Yixing.  
  
Yixing arrives in fifteen minutes and Baekhyun has to get him and help him inside through all that tall grass and creaky stairs. Kyungsoo is paler than ever, his lips already lacking its usual color and Baekhyun watches impatiently as Yixing treats his gunshot wound. Yixing is silent as he takes it out quick and then stitches him up. They then help him to his room and on his bed where Kyungsoo passes out instantly.  
  
“Your timing couldn’tve been more perfect,” Yixing says to Baekhyun after going through Kyungsoo one more time just to see if he missed anything else. Another wound perhaps. But Kyungsoo only has one and Yixing sets a couple of pills by his side for when he wakes up.  
  
“Is he in any danger or…” Baekhyun asks, watching the rise and fall of Kyungsoo’s chest as he sleeps.  
  
“No, he’s fine. This is his second one. He knows what to expect of the pain by now.”  
  
Yixing leaves when he’s done but Baekhyun stays. He wasn’t sure whether to stay or not but in the end he does only to make some rice porridge for him for when he wakes up. He doesn’t stay for long.  
  
He has a feeling Kyungsoo would want to be alone when he wakes up anyway.  
  


* * *

  
Kyungsoo leaves him an email the next day.  
  
 _Your porridge sucked_  it said.  
  
Baekhyun smiles knowing how he’s already well.  
  


* * *

  
Baekhyun delivers his missions to Kyungsoo without getting threatened now. But he still isn’t allowed to stay in his apartment for long.  
  
He does get to use the bathroom.  
  
And stay for a glass of water.  
  
Sometimes for a small snack.  
  
A short nap.  
  
But that’s it. Kyungsoo always ushers him out by the end of the day and Baekhyun always manages to come back.


	5. Chapter 5

Minseok toes his shoes off and shrugs off his jacket as he enters his apartment and then strips down to his underwear. He tosses his pants on the couch as well as his shirt, places his mission envelope on the counter and then quickly rushes inside the bedroom. He picks up the sleep clothes he discarded earlier on the way out, shimmies inside them and then dives under the covers to where his husband is naked and asleep.  
  
“What time is it?” Luhan grumbles with his back to him and Minseok spoons him from behind, closing his eyes.  
  
“Eight-thirty,” Minseok replies, draping an arm across Luhan’s bare waist.  
  
“‘S too early.” Luhan yawns. Minseok chuckles against the back of his neck.  
  
“I know. Sleep.”  
  
They fall back asleep even when Minseok has already drained half of the americano Jongdae picked up for him that morning and when he wakes up an hour later, it’s to his husband’s tongue lapping him up between his legs.  
  
“How long were you down there?” Minseok asks, bending his knees as Luhan shifts to a more comfortable position.  
  
“Just a few minutes,” Luhan replies, hair tousled from sleep as he holds Minseok’s legs apart. Minseok does it for him, spreading his legs wider.  
  
Minseok lets his fingers card through Luhan’s hair as his head bobs up and down.  
  
“What time do you need to be out?” Luhan asks in between sucking on the head of his cock and licking on his tip.  
  
“After lunch,” Minseok replies. “I’ve scouted the area yesterday but there’s no harm in being there earlier later.”  
  
Luhan hums, the vibrations making his cock twitch in his husband’s hold.  
  
“What did Jongdae give you?”  
  
Minseok’s stomach lurches when Luhan dips his tongue on the slit of his tip.  
  
“Just a sniper rifle,” Minseok says, his breathing turning a little heavy now. His thighs are tense as he feels the heat threatening to consume him. “I told him I wasn’t going to get too close today.”  
  
“Mmmhmm.” Luhan looks at him. “Good choice.”  
  
Minseok closes his eyes as Luhan starts sucking around the head again. He doesn’t have to do much now and when he finally comes, it’s with a small gasp in his throat, balls clenching and thighs almost closing with a start. Luhan has both of his hands holding him down and Minseok loosens the hold he has on his hair when he can finally feel his heart rate slowing down and feel the warmth finally leaving him.  
  
Luhan is watching him trying to catch his breath when he opens his eyes. There’s a speck of cum down his chin and Minseok reaches to wipe it off.  
  
“You’re so beautiful,” Luhan says and even if they’ve been together for five years now (married in the last two), he still blushes at that.  
  
“Yeah well,” Minseok grunts, lifting himself up on his elbows. “So are you. Your turn.”  
  
They shift positions, Luhan in Minseok’s place only that he’s lying face down on the pillows, ass up as Minseok works his fingers in him after making sure he’s lubed up.  
  
“So what did Junmyeon say?” Luhan asks and Minseok looks at the stretch of his husband’s back all pale with a spatter of freckles on his shoulders.  
  
“About?”  
  
“Your resignation.”  
  
Minseok’s fingers almost still inside him but he quickly composes himself. Instead of replying, he curls his fingers inside him and Luhan’s hips stutter. A soft moan can be heard from him up front.  
  
Using this as a distraction, Minseok works him open, massaging and thrusting and after a while, Luhan is panting, his back sheen with sweat and his muscles flex as he tries to adjust and hold himself from coming so soon.  
  
“Minseok…” Luhan says his name like a prayer and Minseok takes his fingers out, adding in lube on his cock that’s hard once again.  
  
Minseok places both his hands on Luhan’s hips as he kneels behind him. The first slide in has Luhan’s fingers curl against the edges of his pillows and he lets out a pleased sigh when he’s buried in.  
  
Minseok moves, watching his dick slide in and out of Luhan slowly. He pulls back just enough to slide a long way back in. His walls feel nice and tight around him and he tightens his hold on his waist, making sure not to slip all the way out.  
  
“What did he say?” Luhan asks again, voice breathless as they move in a sloppy rhythm. Minseok has almost forgotten what they were talking about.  
  
“Oh you know…”  
  
There’s silence except for their heavy breathing and the bed creaking along to their movements.  
  
“You haven’t told him.”  
  
Minseok is thankful Luhan has his back to him so he can’t see him wince.  
  
“I’ll tell him soon.”  
  
Luhan lifts himself on his elbows as he looks over his shoulder.  
  
“You said it would be this week.”  
  
“Yes but I had five missions this week and Junmyeon was in and out of meetings. There was hardly any time.”  
  
Luhan seems to pout at that that Minseok makes it up in the way he angles his thrusts. Luhan’s head drops back, lolling in between his shoulders as Minseok continues to make it up to him.  
  
“Minseok…”  
  
Minseok bends forward, bringing their bodies closer together so he can kiss his back.  
  
“I know. I’ll tell him soon. I promise.”  
  
“You said that the last time.”  
  
Minseok reaches over for Luhan’s cock and wraps his hands around him. Luhan bucks into his touch and Minseok moves his hand along to his thrusts. Luhan seems distracted now, their rhythm no longer sloppy but coordinated. He’d like to keep it this way for awhile. He knows how Luhan doesn’t like his line of work. Being a retired hitman for a while now has made him think of greener pastures and a life of solitude and bliss. Minseok’s not ready for that. Minseok likes his work too much to give it all up.  
  
Luhan comes in his hand, back tense and walls clenching down on Minseok. Minseok doesn’t stop moving his hand nor his thrusts until his husband has fully ridden out his orgasm. When he feels him shudder from being too sensitive, Minseok pulls out then starts working himself until he comes all over Luhan’s back.  
  
Minseok sits back on his heels, panting and Luhan turns around to look at him. There’s a beautiful red blush on his cheeks and Minseok smiles at him breathlessly at how he looks and what they just did. Luhan reaches over their bedside table for a tissue and hands it to Minseok who cleans his hands and his back before throwing it away in the trash and settling down beside him.  
  
“Minseok,” Luhan starts and Minseok knows what’s coming next. “You have to resign.”  
  
Have to. Because it’s important Minseok is away from everything that’s going to get him killed.  
  
Once upon a time Luhan understood what this life was like. They met and fell in love while they were both under EXO and they were the two finest men Junmyeon had along with Kyungsoo. But after a mission that had Luhan almost killed, Junmyeon decided the right course of action for him was to retire and stay hidden. He would be well compensated for as long as he lives. Luhan gladly accepted it, seeing as he was a bit tired from all the action. Only the people inside EXO know he’s still alive. The rest of the world thinks Luhan is dead.  
  
Two months after his “death”, they got married. Junmyeon is the only one who knows. The less people who know, the better. And they’ve been living a quiet life until Minseok thinks the retirement has gotten to his husband who wants Minseok to resign and live this secret life with him. He can understand why. Luhan is still wary of the people who think he’s still alive or worse, knows that he’s been living with Minseok.  
  
Only that Minseok doesn’t want to quit just yet. He’s not afraid of any of them.  
  
But he is afraid of losing Luhan.  
  
“Minseok…” Luhan prods again and Minseok just turns, his face nuzzling Luhan’s forehead.  
  
“I will.” Minseok resigns. He will. Someday. Just, not now.  
  
“Promise?”  
  
Minseok nods, his thoughts already on his next mission rather than on the resignation letter he needs to hand over.  
  
“Promise.”


	6. Chapter 6

Baekhyun runs along the narrow hallway, cursing under his breath as the door he locked behind him bursts open with a bang. He doesn’t have to turn around to know they’re right behind him; their footsteps sounding along the tiles are heavy and frantic.  
  
Baekhyun darts to a nearby corridor and reloads his gun. He’s smarter now, he assures himself. Jongdae has taught him well. He carries more ammo and a bunch of other stuff that always weigh him down. But it’s better to carry them around than get stuck without nothing like the first time.  
  
Only that this time, he’s hit a dead end.  
  
There’s no window to jump out of or a vent to crawl into. There’s only a wall.  
  
A few shots fired sounds near his head and it has Baekhyun jerk back in his hiding spot. He wants to use the smoke bombs Jongdae gave him. He’d throw it and slip past them quietly. But he didn’t bring a mask, something he should’ve remembered with all the other things he’s been carrying around.  
  
Baekhyun only hopes a certain someone was able to get his text for help.  
  
Baekhyun peeks from the wall he’s hiding when right on cue, something is thrown from behind the group of men that’s after Baekhyun. Baekhyun sees what it is and he immediately plasters himself as far back as he can as the smoke bomb goes off. Baekhyun shuts his eyes and hopes they don’t find him amidst all of that.  
  
He hears more shots fired. A few yelling and screaming. A mask is suddenly placed over his face and someone is hoisting him up harshly. Baekhyun doesn’t open his eyes yet but he allows himself to be dragged out of there, trusting whoever it is completely.  
  
They flit through that crowd undetected and Baekhyun runs with his savior in front of him, pulling him along by the edge of his jacket as they head for the exits.  
  
When they’re in the clear, Baekhyun turns around, tugs his mask off and grins at Kyungsoo who’s tugging his own mask off, hair sticking out in odd ends.  
  
“You came!” Baekhyun shouts in glee, smiling at him but Kyungsoo just gives him a deathly glare.  
  
“Where did you get my number?” He asks.  
  
“Chanyeol gave it to me.”  
  
“Great,” Kyungsoo breathes. “I told him not to give it to anyone unless it was an emergency.”  
  
“It was an emergency,” Baekhyun says. “My life was on the line.”  
  
Kyungsoo only stares at him like he doesn’t give a shit about his life.  
  
“Oh come on.” Baekhyun jumps, draping an arm around his shoulder. “You got me out of there. You deserve all the credit. I’ll tell Junmyeon my paycheck for this mission is going to you.”  
  
“I don’t care about that,” Kyungsoo says, taking Baekhyun’s arm off of him as he heads towards his car. “Don’t text me for help. I’m not your back up.”  
  
“But you’re an awesome backup!”  
  
Kyungsoo just gets inside his car, a Porsche 911 Classic 1964, Baekhyun learns. It’s the same car he picked him up in when they first met. It’s the only thing Baekhyun sees him with all the time. Like it was his only friend.  
  
“Go home Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says as he backs out of the driveway.  
  
“Can I hitch a ride?” Baekhyun asks but Kyungsoo is already driving out into the street and leaving him there alone.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
Baekhyun has a gun pointed at his head. The man holding it looks tough. Tall, Baekhyun thinks as he sizes him up. And muscular. It’s going to hurt if this guy grabs him, grips his arms behind his back and keep him still. So Baekhyun makes sure he won’t have time to do all that.  
  
Baekhyun is fast. That was always his advantage against these goons. They’re all big and tough and well, lazy, Baekhyun supposes when all they’re good at is counting money, drinking and lounging around. So Baekhyun, despite having a gun pressed to his temple, moves so fast that when the gun goes off, it only grazes him. A few more gunshots go off but they miss him. He can feel the stinging pain but Baekhyun moves, taking out his own gun from its holster and taking them all out.  
  
One, two, three. The men inside the room fall lifeless and still and Baekhyun grins to himself. He searches one for the keycard he was holding earlier before Baekhyun had barged in. He takes it, swipes it on another door, gun already out in front of him to take out this group’s boss. This is probably the quickest mission he’s ever taken, Baekhyun thinks to himself. Maybe he’ll finally get that lunch Jongdae owed him.  
  
He kicks open the door but stops when he sees his target sneering at him. There’s a gun in his hand and it’s pointed at a woman he has clutched tightly beside him.  
  
 _Shit._  He forgot there might be a hostage.  
  
“Who sent you?” He snarls. The woman beside him squeezes her eyes shut and makes a small whimpering sound.  
  
His target seems absolutely furious, to Baekhyun’s amusement. Baekhyun likes that kind of reaction from them. It only means that they’re panicking and they won’t be able to think of a proper escape.  
  
Baekhyun doesn’t answer his question. He doesn’t have to.  
  
“Where are the drugs?” Baekhyun asks, gun still pointed at his target.  
  
“What makes you think I’ll tell you?” He replies, backing away from Baekhyun. “You’ll still kill me anyway.”  
  
True. Baekhyun was just buying time.  
  
“Stay where you are or else I’ll shoot,” The target says, pressing the gun to the woman's cheek.  
  
Her cries has Baekhyun falter.  
  
Apparently that was the only thing his target wanted to see for when Baekhyun lowers his gun just an inch, the man shoves his hostage to the side and fires at Baekhyun.  
  
Baekhyun falls to the ground, gasping at the impact of the bullet in his stomach. He should've moved fast. But his target shouldn't have turned around either. At that exact moment he turns around to leave, Baekhyun grabs his gun that had fallen from his grasp and shoots twice.  
  
The woman shrieks and Baekhyun watches the man slump to the ground dead. He gives off a sigh of relief and grimaces as he pulls himself up.  
  
"It's okay,” Baekhyun pants, clutching at his stomach where he was hit.The bulletproof vest he’s wearing feels tight around him even if he knows he isn’t wounded. He wears these things every time he’s off on a mission yet he’s always uncomfortable underneath them.  
  
“It’s okay,” He continues. “We’re getting out of here.”  
  
There’s a small click and Baekhyun’s head snaps towards the woman who’s grinning at him from across the room. She no longer looks frightened and helpless. The dead man’s gun is in her hands now as she points it at Baekhyun and that’s when he realized he was wrong.  
  
She ran things around here. Not that man he shot on the ground.  
  
Baekhyun’s lips form into a straight line. Junmyeon’s informant should’ve added this bit.  
  
“That face,” The woman laughs. “Not who you were expecting. That’s a first from EXO.”  
  
Baekhyun smiles. “I have to say. You were a good actress.”  
  
“And you’re just a dumb fuck. I can’t believe Junmyeon hired someone like you. What, no one’s applying these days?”  
  
Baekhyun doesn’t get to answer when the window beside her breaks and glass shards come flying at her. She screams and Baekhyun watches wide eyed as Kyungsoo smashes in, shooting the woman square in the chest.  
  
Kyungsoo looks at the woman now dead on the ground as soon as he rights himself then stares at Baekhyun. Baekhyun only grins at him.  
  
“You called me for this?” He asks, pissed as usual.  
  
Not exactly. Baekhyun only pressed the distress signal on his phone earlier for Kyungsoo (he knew Minseok was on a mission and not to be bothered and Sehun and Jongin were booked too) since he needed a ride home afterwards. He wasn’t expecting things would go this way.  
  
“Maybe,” Baekhyun dusts himself off. “Can I hitch a ride?”  
  
Kyungsoo just gives him that usual look but his eyes linger at his stomach, probably eyeing the bullet holes and then the side of Baekhyun’s face. Baekhyun reaches up to touch whatever it is he’s looking at when he feels something sting. He looks at his gloved hand and sees blood and remembered how a bullet just grazed him earlier.  
  
“Clean yourself up," He says. "You look like shit.”  
  
Kyungsoo is out the window in seconds leaving Baekhyun groaning in annoyance and grumbling as he takes the stairs.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
_“Baekhyun, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”_  
  
Baekhyun clicks his tongue at that.  
  
“It’ll work. Trust me.”  
  
Baekhyun hears Chanyeol sigh at the other end of the line. “Come on, Chanyeol. Set it off for me.”  
  
 _“I will. And I only hope you get your ass out of there by the time they come for you."_  
  
Baekhyun rolls his eyes at Chanyeol's response.  
  
He planned on setting off the sprinklers. It'll get him to use the elevator quick without anybody noticing. Everyone will be exiting through the stairs thinking it's an emergency and Baekhyun will be able to slip past them and get to his target fast.  
  
Chanyeol didn’t think it was a good idea. It might become a nuisance during the mission. But Baekhyun reasoned out he only needs just a couple of minutes anyway.  
  
Chanyeol sets the sprinklers off right on cue and after a few seconds, the halls are filled with people drenched and heading towards the exits.  
  
 _"How long do you need those sprinklers running again?_ "  
  
“Five minutes.”  
  
Baekhyun dashes towards the elevators and presses the button for the basement. His target runs a counterfeiting business and the whole place is going to be seized by the authorities once he’s done with him. Junmyeon wants him out of the scene fast when that happens.  
  
He gets to the basement, muttering under his breath how he should’ve placed on goggles or something since the water is messing up with his eyesight when he suddenly skids on the wet floor. He barely registers Chanyeol saying,  _“Not that way-! Oh shit,”_  in his earpiece, the water seeping through his clothes, when he finally rubs his eyes and looks up from where he’s sprawled on the ground at his target pointing a gun at him.  
  
“Well, well,” His target smirks. “If it isn't one of Junmyeon’s kids.” The man then takes an HT from his back pocket and barks into the transceiver, “Shut the damn sprinklers off and get someone down here immediately.”  
  
 _“Fuck, Baekhyun, I’m calling Kyungsoo.”_  Is the only thing Chanyeol says before the line goes dead and Baekhyun is left on his own.  
  
“My money’s all soaked because of you,” The man snarls at him. Baekhyun thought he wasn’t such a large man and there was nothing to be afraid of. Until he reaches for Baekhyun, grabs him by the neck and hoists him up. Baekhyun struggles to breathe while his legs dangle in the air.  
  
Maybe this is really it. His luck was bound to run out some time.  
  
“You owe me billions, kid,” The man snarls.  
  
“How much exactly?” Baekhyun wheezes.  
  
“Why you-”  
  
The man chokes on his words and Baekhyun watches as his eyes widen and his hold on him goes slack. Baekhyun yelps as he falls to the ground with a splash.  
  
“I’ve changed my number twice,” Kyungsoo seethes behind the target who crumples to the ground. Kyungsoo had stabbed him in the back and slit his throat just in case. When he rights himself, Baekhyun can see he isn’t wearing his usual beanie so his glower is as clear as day.  
  
“How the hell do you keep on contacting me?”  
  
Baekhyun wants to ask how he had gotten there so fast but he hears yelling behind him and knows this is his target’s backup. Baekhyun grabs Kyungsoo and makes a mad run towards the fire escape.  
  
They make their way out of there, soaked and breathless. When they’re finally out of the building, ran three blocks and are pretty sure no one is following them, Baekhyun lets go of Kyungsoo and sags to the ground on a nearby alley.  
  
“Thank you,” Baekhyun pants. “I was afraid I was done for.”  
  
Kyungsoo looks at him, confused. “You do understand what this job is asking from you, right?”  
  
Baekhyun blinks up at him. “Uh, kill people?”  
  
“And?” Kyungsoo asks impatiently. He's drenched as well and as always, he isn't in such a good mood.  
  
Baekhyun racks his head for anything else but there’s nothing he can think of aside from the obvious.  
  
“Just tell me,” He whines. “I’m too tired to think.”  
  
“Your life, Baekhyun. You’re supposed to be ready to give your life up for this.”  
  
Baekhyun watches as Kyungsoo takes his keys from his pocket and turns around to leave.  
  
“So don’t expect to be alive after every mission. If you are, consider yourself an exceptional hitman,” Kyungsoo then stops and gives him one last look.  
  
“But I don’t think you are one, Byun Baekhyun. I just think you’re goddamn lucky.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
Hours later, when his drenched clothes are already in the laundry, Baekhyun sits in his tub, the hot water soothing his muscles as he ponders over Kyungsoo’s words to him earlier.  
  
He was right. He isn’t a good hitman. He just relies on luck most of the time.  
  
But Baekhyun already knew that. He knows how his weapons can only protect him for a time. It’s his luck that always gets him out of extreme situations. And well, his loud mouth. But it was still different to hear it from someone else.  
  
Baekhyun sags in the tub and lets the water level up to his nose.  
  
He’s not sure why Kyungsoo’s words are bothering him a lot. But he does want to do something about it. He’s already good at combat and skilled in target shooting. He should use those more rather than rely on luck. Besides, he’s sure he’s used up most of it already.  
  
Getting out from the tub hours later and reheating a microwaveable dinner he picked up on the way home, Baekhyun gets to work on his next mission with a new drive in mind.  
  
  


* * *

  
His new drive turned out to be the wrong approach because now he’s running for his life. Or more like limping. He’s not sure what went wrong but now there are people after him. He has a gunshot wound on his thigh and a bruise that’s smarting on his face from where he was hit earlier.  
  
It was going so well. Baekhyun had taken this really seriously. He was just tasked to take out a human trafficking group leader by shooting him with a sniper right across their location and then leave. He scouted the place twice to make sure his position would be well hidden and would provide him a fast escape. But somehow, Baekhyun taking things seriously still made him overlook some stuff due to him focusing more on how to be a proper himan. Being distracted had led him in the hands of three thugs even right after he took out his target.  
  
He should call Kyungsoo. Or Minseok. Or someone. He doesn’t think he’ll make it another block with the way his wound is throbbing. But his pride is in the way making him stuff his phone back down his pocket. He’s a good hitman, he assures himself. He’s ready to give up his life for this.  
  
A car screeches and stops right in front of him. Baekhyun halts, almost ramming himself up the vehicle’s hood. He raises an arm in front of his face from the glaring headlights when it dies down and he sees a familiar face behind the wheel.  
  
“Get in!” Kyungsoo shouts and Baekhyun quickly limps towards the passenger seat. Behind him, someone shoots leaving bullet holes in the front of Kyungsoo’s car and they both duck for a second before Kyungsoo is retrieving a gun from underneath his seat, sticks his head out the window and fires two shots at their attacker. They then drive off with Kyungsoo snapping at Baekhyun to strap his seatbelt on.  
  
It’s quiet inside Kyungsoo’s car. Baekhyun stares at the broken windshield and winces at the amount of damage that had followed him. He knew his luck had already ran out and decided to stay quiet lest Kyungsoo kicks him out too.  
  
“How many hits did you take?” Kyungsoo asks, voice eerily quiet. Baekhyun wonders what he’s asking about when his thigh throbs.  
  
“One,” Baekhyun answers, biting down on his lower lip to keep his voice steady.  
  
“What about the one on your face?”  
  
“Oh this? This is nothing. I crashed into a wall.” Baekhyun laughs. He’s not sure why he lied, opting to sound more stupid or why he’s laughing nervously.  
  
They drive along silently once more and each passing minute feels like Baekhyun’s thigh is going to split open. There’s a burning sensation traveling up his leg and just when Baekhyun thinks he can’t take the pain anymore, he sees his apartment building come into view.  
  
“If you can just let me off here,” Baekhyun motions to the side of the street when Kyungsoo zooms past his place.  
  
“I’m taking you to Yixing.” Kyungsoo just says, eyes still on the road. Baekhyun blinks at him in surprise but doesn’t argue and settles back in his seat instead.  
  
Yixing is just about to head out when they arrive but immediately goes back inside when he sees the amount of blood on Baekhyun’s leg. He tends to him quick. But not before Jongdae and Chanyeol sees Kyungsoo carrying him bridal style inside the office and they both laugh at them and whistle at their direction.  
  
“I’m really really sorry-” Baekhyun sucks in air as Yixing makes him sit on the bed and starts taking out the bullet lodged inside him. Baekhyun is trying not to lose his composure since Kyungsoo is in the room with him too, arms crossed as he leans against the wall looking at them. “About your car-” Baekhyun tightens his hold on the side of the bed. “And staining the seat-” He hisses as Yixing moves him slightly. “And for using you as back up again-  _Fuck that hurts!_ ”  
  
Yixing looks up at him and smiles, showing him the bullet he extracted. “All done.”  
  
Baekhyun collapses on the bed and throws an arm out his face and then jolts back when he hits his bruise. “Can I please get an ice pack too?”  
  
Yixing chuckles and hands one over to him.  
  
“No missions for you in the next few weeks. Junmyeon’s already notified.” Yixing pats his leg and offers him some pain killers before he leaves. “Good job today, Byun. Get some rest.”  
  
“He’s right,” Kyungsoo says as soon as the door closes and they’re left alone. “Get some rest.”  
  
“Okay,” Baekhyun replies, closing his eyes and letting the exhaustion consume him. He’s not one to argue at the moment. He downs the pain killers Yixing gave him and now all he wants to do is to sleep the pain off.  
  
“Kyungsoo?” He says after awhile. There’s something nagging at him in the back of his mind and he wants to say it before he completely dozes off and forgets. He’s not sure if Kyungsoo’s still there though but he still speaks up, hoping he never left.  
  
“What?” Kyungsoo asks gruffly.  
  
“Thank you. For earlier. And I’m sorry for calling you again.” Baekhyun gives off a tired laugh. “You were right. I suck at being a hitman.”  
  
It felt nice admitting it out loud. It’s kind of like an odd way to come to terms with who he is. He was so focused on being who he wasn’t and it still got him in trouble. He might as well just be the same goofball. At least that’ll get him to work on his missions better.  
  
The room stays silent for awhile and just when Baekhyun really does feel like he’s drifted off, Kyungsoo replies.  
  
“You didn’t call me.”  
  
Baekhyun opens his eyes at this.  
  
“I… Didn’t?”  
  
“You didn’t.”  
  
Baekhyun blinks at the ceiling. He could’ve sworn he called Kyungsoo for backup. He’s accustomed to calling him every time he has a mission, his fingers just automatically pressing in his number that’s set at speed dial. He doesn’t really call him for help. He just likes calling him and asking to hitch a ride with him when he shows up even if he knows Kyungsoo will leave him behind anyway.  
  
So if he didn’t call Kyungsoo, how did he find him then?  
  
“You’re a lucky guy, Byun Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says. “And maybe that’s not such a bad thing afterall.”  
  
Baekhyun lets those words swirl in his head. He doesn’t have to worry about being an exceptional hitman. He just needs to get the job done. And Kyungsoo makes it sound like there’s really nothing to worry about anymore.  
  
There’s a nudge on his good thigh snapping him out of his reverie.  
  
“Oi,” Kyungsoo says. “Get up. I’m not carrying you again.”  
  
Baekhyun turns to look at him. “Huh?”  
  
“I said get up. I’m taking you home.”  
  
This has Baekhyun sit up so fast that his head’s all dizzy.  
  
“What did you just say?” Baekhyun asks, wanting to be sure.  
  
“I’m taking you home.”  
  
Baekhyun looks at him, hopeful. “Does that mean…”  
  
“Yes,” Kyungsoo sighs. “You can hitch a ride with me.”  
  
Baekhyun grins at him. He momentarily forgets how painful his wound is as he jumps off the bed and throws an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder. Kyungsoo scowls but he helps him walk to the car anyway and he groans out loud as Baekhyun proceeds to groggily tell him all about his day.


	7. Chapter 7

Jongin blinks at the boy standing in front of him. He’s tall, has a sharp sculpted face and has jet black hair parted in the middle. It falls to his eyes that look half lidded in boredom and his arms are crossed right in front of his broad chest.  
  
“Jongin, this is Oh Sehun,” Junmyeon introduces. “He’ll be your new partner.”  
  
Jongin blinks in reply. This guy?  
  
Sehun shoots him a look, probably checking Jongin’s reaction to this bit of news.  
  
He’s aware Junmyeon was going to assign him a partner. He wasn't like Minseok or Kyungsoo who were experienced enough around this business. And he didn't want to turn down this job either. It thrilled him to be a hitman with a purpose. But according to Junmyeon, he was too young to be dealing with missions alone. Junmyeon didn't want to let him go when he knew as well how good Jongin was. But he was inexperienced and wanted him to work with someone. A partner.  
  
Jongin hoped it would be Kyungsoo. They worked well together and Jongin really liked the way Kyungsoo went about missions. He always learns a lot from him and Kyungsoo doesn’t seem to mind when he tags along. Kyungsoo would teach him a bunch of ways how to slit throats. Where to stab someone in the chest that would guarantee them dead. How to muffle a gunshot firing when there's no silencer. Kyungsoo was awesome and Jongin would've been thrilled to be his partner.  
  
Or Minseok. He wasn’t as serious as Kyungsoo was whenever he took on his targets. Minseok usually has fun and is always chill. Unlike Kyungsoo whose targets are mostly underground and in warehouses or out of the city, Minseok's are usually in bars and in nightclubs and parties. Minseok flirts around, getting to his targets where they're most weak and then kills them. Jongin enjoys tagging along Minseok's missions. They're always fun. Especially when the older one would offer him drinks in between stake outs.  
  
But this guy. This newbie. Jongin doesn't want a newbie.  
  
And the newbie sure as hell doesn't want him either.  
  
"You'll have your first mission together three days from now," Junmyeon says, handing them their file. "Jongin, since you've been here for quite awhile, would you kindly show Sehun around? Introduce him to Chanyeol and have his ID and tech registered and then bring him to Jongdae for his own firearms."  
  
Jongin nods and brings a smug Sehun around the office.  
  
"Is this your first time?" Jongin asks, trying to be friendly.  
  
"No," Sehun snorts. "What, you think I'd be scared so easily?"  
  
Jongin doesn't think that. Sehun looks capable enough on his own.  
  
"If you have anything you're not comfortable with, you can tell me. We won't have to use it. Like smoke bombs. Minseok hyung doesn't like smoke bombs so he doesn't use those- "  
  
"I'm good with anything."  
  
Jongin matches his pace with Sehun so that they're walking side by side.  
  
"You know, if we're to work together, we should probably try to get along."  
  
It wasn't as if Sehun was hiding it. Jongin gets that Sehun doesn't like him. He's not sure why when they've only just met a few minutes ago. Jongin doesn't like him either. But Jongin's not being rude.  
  
Sehun suddenly stops and turns to look at Jongin square in the eyes. It has Jongin stop as well and he steps back, startled. He’s never had anyone look at him like this. All the guys at the office are nice and well, no one's tall enough to look Jongin in the eyes. Only Chanyeol but he's harmless.  
  
"Look here,  _partner_ ," Sehun spits out. "Just because we're going to be working together doesn't mean I have to be nice to you."  
  
Jongin blinks back at that, surprised at how straightforward he's being.  
  
"So why don't we just do this, kill people, without having to worry about building such a  _relationship_. Alright?"  
  
Sehun doesn't wait for Jongin to reply as he continues walking down the hall. Jongin doesn't think he can give a proper response anyway.  
  
It hasn't even been fifteen minutes and Jongin's decided that he hates Sehun already.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
"Come on, come on," Jongin mutters under his breath as he hears the continuous ringing in his ears. He's rushing over to their location and he's late. He's never late to a scheduled mission. But right now, he is and it's all Sehun's fault.  
  
They were to meet fifteen minutes ago three blocks down from their actual location so they can get there together. Jongin has the blueprints of the building they're going to be entering and he needs Sehun to know what ground they both have to cover. They should've planned this out in the days leading to their mission but Sehun wasn't always available. It wasn't a big deal anyway. Jongin usually has the blueprints on the spot whenever he's with Kyungsoo and Minseok. He considers it a part of his training whenever he's handed things just minutes before the whole thing happens. It's a mark of a good hitman to work under pressure.  
  
But this is ridiculous.  
  
They have to be on time. Their target is only good for twenty minutes before they miss him and now they've wasted fifteen of it. Because Sehun hasn't shown up and isn't even picking up his phone no matter how many times Jongin called him.  
  
 _Goddamnit, Sehun, pick up!_ Jongin feels like hurling his phone. This really wasn't what he imagined his first mission with his partner was going to be. He imagined him and Sehun working together just like how he and Kyungsoo and Minseok worked. Flawless. Concise. Quick. This doesn't feel like that at all. There is nothing but a weird kind of stage fright coursing through his veins.  
  
Deciding to take matters into his own hands wasn't the decision he wanted to make. But Sehun left him no choice at all.  
  
Jongin enters through the backdoor after picking on the locks, rifle out in front of him. After making sure no one's about to come down, Jongin takes the stairs two at a time.  _Third floor,_  he breathes.  _Second door on the left._  
  
He stealthily takes the last two steps and leans against the wall. Junmyeon would disapprove of this. He made it specifically clear that none of them were to operate alone. But seeing as he only has one window of opportunity open and his partner isn't here, he really has no choice.  
  
Jongin inhales then steps away from the wall, gun out and positioned to shoot. He stops though, startled when all he sees is blood pooling on the ground.  
  
Jongin strains to hear any sound at all but it's eerily silent. He approaches the door, the one that has his target in there and he sees the source of the blood coming from underneath the gaps. Jongin twists the doorknob and nudges it open and he's surprised to see his target dead, slumped on a nearby couch. He took a shot in the chest and behind him lies three more of his security.  
  
It isn't until much later when he storms out of the building that Sehun finally picks up.  
  
"Where the hell were you?" Jongin barks into the phone as he walks away from the building.  
  
 _"At home,"_  Sehun's smug voice comes in the line.  
  
"You want to tell me why you took out our target without me?"  
  
 _"You scheduled the whole thing in the afternoon."_  
  
"So?"  
  
 _"It was in the way of my online game time."_  
  
Jongin has never wanted to punch someone in the face at that moment.  
  
"And you couldn't have talked to me about this before? We had three days, Sehun! You couldn't have picked up my calls so we could schedule this differently?" Jongin sounds so hysterical that a nearby shop has the baker squint outside his windows. Jongin tugs his hood up, turns and ducks inside a small pathway leading into an alley.  
  
 _"Look. The guy's dead. I saved you the trouble of killing him. Why don't you just go home and chill?"_  
  
Jongin ends that call with a stifled growl.  
  
He can't believe it. His first mission and he wasn't even there to witness the whole thing.  
  
Fine. _Fine._  If he's going to be stuck with a partner like Sehun then he sure as hell won't let this get to him.  
  
A smile forms on Jongin's face.  
  
Two can play this game.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
Jongin wipes a speck of blood off his cheek as he checks his reflection on the side door mirror. He gives his target's slump form in the driver seat one last look before he finally puts his gun back in its holster and turns away to leave.  
  
He stretches and yawns, finding this second mission a bit slow and quiet for his taste. But it had nevertheless been a smooth one. He wasn't in a hurry to finish things. Nor was he frantically running around some building and trying to keep people off his track. The only tiring thing he had to do was wait in the back seat for his target and the rest was easy.  
  
He gets back to the office after grabbing a sandwich from the mini mart. He's going to deposit his firearms and then head home to play with his dogs. There's a small smile on his face as he walks inside the reception area but he keeps it from turning into a shit eating grin when he sees Sehun with his arms crossed waiting for him. He looks so pissed off and Jongin thinks that's the expression he's gotten most from him ever since they met and that oddly pleases him so.  
  
Jongin doesn't stop to greet him. He walks right past him, munching on his sandwich as he heads to Jongdae's area.  
  
"You forgot something?" Sehun hisses as he walks beside him.  
  
"Not that I know of," Jongin shrugs. "Why?"  
  
"Our mission. Which was today. The one you didn't bother to tell me?" Jongin likes the sound of Sehun saying that in between his teeth. "I had to find out from Jongdae hyung and he was nice enough to say he wouldn't tell the boss. You know how embarrassing that was?"  
  
"Oh yeah. Sorry, man. It must've slipped my mind."  
  
Sehun steps in front of him and Jongin has no choice but to stop eating and look at him.  
  
"If you're trying to get back at me for what happened last time-"  
  
Jongin laughs. "What? That? You think I'd let something like that get to me? Come on, Sehun. I just forgot to tell you. I'll be sure to let you know next time." Jongin continues to walk off but stops to look at him over his shoulder. "That is if the mission isn't in the way of your online gaming session."  
  
Sehun just throws him another infuriated look, one that Jongin thinks is all worth ditching him for today's mission.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
It goes on like that for all the succeeding missions. Jongin would win some and Sehun would... Well, Jongin will never admit Sehun wins some too but he does succeed in getting on his nerves. Jongin ends up hating his partner's ass most of the time.  
  
He hates him. And Sehun hates him too.  
  
They never get along and every time they go on a mission together, it always ends up with them fighting. It's either Sehun sometimes - _or purposely!_ \- forgets to read the file so it's Jongin doing most of the work for them or Sehun just loves getting in the way of his plans. His plans that he takes very seriously and Sehun always messes it up. Like making so much noise, attracting too much attention or just blindly walking in their target's room. Jongin doesn't know how the hell they always get out of their missions unscathed but he does know he always manages to raise his voice whenever they end up arguing and he's mentally drained by the end of the day.  
  
Jongin has never met such an annoying person. Sehun is a prick and a brat and a know-it-all and his smug face doesn't help make things better.  
  
He's complained to Kyungsoo about this. Because Kyungsoo is his hyung who listens since there's no way Jongin can tell Junmyeon. He can't let the boss know he's having a hard time with his partner. He doesn't want to be seen as someone who can't deal with a little pressure so only Kyungsoo knows. Kyungsoo who only rubs his back and offers his time to listen to Jongin ranting. Jongin likes that about his hyung. That he doesn't say anything else other than listen.  
  
"At this rate, we should just be working alone. Junmyeon hyung should scrap this partner bullshit," Jongin grumbled once and Kyungsoo just offered to teach him how to properly throw a grenade to let his mood lighten up.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
What gets on Jongin's skin the most is not actually the obvious. Not the fighting or the arguing and the stupid banter. It stemmed from that but lately, Jongin realizes it's not it. It's Sehun. Sehun being himself. Sehun is capable enough that he doesn't really need a partner. The same thing applies to Jongin but being able to witness Sehun's abilities firsthand is different.  
  
Sehun is skilled. He may mess up most of their missions purposely for Jongin but he gets the job done. He's different from Jongin wherein Jongin calculates things rather than charge head on. Sometimes it gets them in trouble with Sehun being brash but they still end up finishing the mission trusted over to them.  
  
Where Jongin is skilled in combat, Sehun is skilled in target shooting. Jongin can take down big burly men just with his hands and Sehun can fire at anyone miles away at different speeds and still manage to hit them. Jongin had been awed once when Sehun single handedly took down five goons with only five bullets left coming at them so fast in every direction while Jongin was busy breaking the door open behind them. Jongin couldn't believe it at first but there they were, all sprawled lifeless on the ground and Sehun hadn't even broke into a nervous sweat. It was amazing. And Jongin had tried so hard for Sehun not to see how impressed he was by that.  
  
This was what Jongin had wanted from the very start. To work with someone who was at par with his skills. Someone who was like Kyungsoo and Minseok. Someone who knew his way with a gun and to deal with pressure. Sehun was all that. But since they started off on the wrong foot and Jongin's pride is too thick, he'd never tell him just how much he thinks highly of him.  
  
They're both skilled in different areas and maybe, just maybe, if they weren't bickering so much, they might be the best of partners. But no, Jongin hates Sehun's guts and arrogant behavior and there's nothing Sehun can do to change that.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
Shit eventually happens. Jongin's been expecting it.  
  
They're at the port hiding behind several container vans and looking for a way into the clearing where their target is. The pathway is blocked by two large men with M16s clutched against their chests. Jongin is wary. But he isn't scared.  
  
"There might be four of them."  
  
"The file said there would be three."  
  
"I still think it's four."  
  
"Well, we're going with three," Jongin snaps. His patience is being tested. Sehun is being annoying again. They're waiting for the right chance to move but if Sehun doesn't shut up, Jongin swears he'll throw him to the people out there and finish this mission off himself.  
  
"But what if the target is indeed surrounded by four?" Sehun whispers and Jongin wants to elbow him on the side.  
  
"The file said she'd be surrounded by three. But if she does have four men with her then we'll have no choice but to take them out."  
  
"The target's a she?"  
  
Jongin turns to Sehun. "Do you ever read the file?"  
  
His voice had gone off a tad louder than before, obvious enough that the men a few feet away from them heard it.  
  
"Who's there?"  
  
"Great," Sehun says, not even bothering to keep his voice down this time.  
  
"Your fault," Jongin retorts before they both reveal themselves and start shooting.  
  
The night air is suddenly filled with smoke followed by the sounds of gunfire and yelling. Pretty much the usual background music Jongin is attuned to. He and Sehun have split up, both going different ways to get to the clearing. The only thing connecting them to each other is the small communication device plugged into their ears.  
  
"I was right," Sehun chirps in his earpiece along with the sounds of more gunfire. "There were four!"  
  
"So?" Jongin says as if he doesn't care he was right even if that information did grate on his nerves a little bit.  
  
Jongin takes out one nearby by hitting him in the neck. The other one Jongin slams to an open car door until his face looks bloodied enough.  
  
"I took two down," Jongin reports.  
  
"Two down from my end," Sehun replies.  
  
They both meet up in the clearing and find themselves facing their target. Jongin grabs Sehun from behind to stop when they see what she's wearing.  
  
 _"You can't take me!"_  She screeches, eyes filled with so much intensity that Jongin knows she's definitely crazy. She has one hand on the control while the other is splayed across her chest where she's wearing a bomb on her. _"EXO can't take me!"_  
  
Jongin only sees her hand twitch, can see her thumb pressing the button she's holding and then Sehun is turning around, throwing himself at Jongin with his arms around him. Jongin doesn't even utter a sound when everything is suddenly filled with bright light and a thundering explosion. He doesn't even register how hard they flew at the ground with the debris flying at them. He only feels the sharp pain in his back and the weight of Sehun atop him after the air has finally cleared.  
  
Everything is ablaze. Jongin's ears are ringing and his hearing is momentarily damaged. He pushes himself up with a cough and a groan and he moves Sehun so he's lying on his back. Jongin, despite not being able to breathe and hear, starts shaking Sehun awake and straining to listen for any signs of him alive.  
  
"Come on, come on." Jongin tries to feel Sehun's pulse. But his hands are shaking too much that he can't distinguish anything. Sehun's eyes are closed and he doesn't seem to be breathing. Jongin fumbles for his phone to call Kyungsoo or Minseok for backup. He's panicking. He just had someone die on him. Someone that's not his target.  
  
"Sehun, wake up!" Jongin yells, voice on the verge of breaking down. His phone is broken from the impact when Sehun threw himself at him. This has Jongin think things through. Sehun threw himself at him. Sehun covered him. His partner saved him. If Sehun's dead because of him-  
  
Jongin watches as Sehun starts shaking. Relief washes over him like a tidal wave. At first, Jongin thinks he's coming to, taking in air, when he realizes Sehun is  _laughing_.  
  
Jongin stands up in disbelief as Sehun laughs, picking himself up and clutching at his stomach while pointing at Jongin.  
  
"Did you hear yourself?" Sehun laughs. " _Sehun wake up!_  I got you didn't I?"  
  
Jongin is so stunned and past the point of being pissed that he doesn't hold himself back from punching Sehun in the face.  
  
 _"Are you fucking kidding me?!"_  He exclaims. Sehun has his face away from him and he spits out what Jongin assumes is blood from the blow he gave.  
  
"You think that was funny?! You think that whole thing was hilarious?!" Jongin continues, not even bothering to keep his voice down. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"  
  
"Hey, hey! I'm sorry, okay!" Sehun has his hands out in a surrender. His mouth is red. Jongin probably broke his tooth. "Geez, man. I was just getting you to relax."  
  
Jongin stares at him. "Relax?! Sehun, this is a mission. We've been having them for about a month now. And you tell me to relax every single time we're about to get killed?!"  
  
Sehun doesn't reply. He's busy massaging his jaw and wincing. There's going to be a bruise tomorrow but Jongin doesn't care. Sehun doesn't look like he's even sorry about all this. Jongin has had enough.  
  
"I'm done," Jongin says and he hopes Sehun's hearing all this loud and clear. "I can't take this anymore. The minute we get back I'm telling Junmyeon hyung I'm getting another partner- "  
  
"No, wait," Sehun's hand darts out to grab him by the arm to keep him from leaving. Jongin glares at him, daring him to continue touching him that this has Sehun let go. "Wait, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."  
  
Jongin only continues to send him a deathly glare.  
  
"I'm sorry I was such an ass. I'll be good. I promise. I'll do better but please, don’t get a new partner."  
  
Jongin's glare turns into a look of surprise.  
  
 _What?_ That was definitely not the response he was expecting.  
  
Sehun scratches the back of his head and he looks so uncomfortable that Jongin is really confused.  
  
"I wanted Kyungsoo hyung or Minseok hyung to be my partner at first," He explains so shyly. "I've heard so much about them and wanted to work with them. But they gave me a newbie and I wasn't down with that."  
  
Jongin can't hear properly yet, the explosion still ringing in his ears but somehow he manages to hear all this crystal clear.  
  
"But you weren't just a newbie. You were experienced and responsible and knew all these things that I didn't," Sehun continues. "You're amazing out here and also,” Sehun breathes, “You're very  _very_  good looking." Jongin blinks at this. "Sorry, I didn't know how to phrase that properly."  
  
Jongin can't believe what he's hearing. Sehun thinks he's experienced. He thinks he's amazing.  
  
And he also thinks Jongin is good looking.  
  
"So I'm sorry." Sehun finishes. He truly looks sorry. "Are we good?"  
  
Are they good? Just after saying all those things, are they really good?  
  
"No," Jongin replies and Sehun's face slightly falls. "No, we're not. You can't just say all these things and then think we're good."  
  
"I really am sorry."  
  
"Yes well, you were nothing but mean and arrogant and a bully all these weeks-"  
  
"Aw come on Jongin, I said I was sorry."  
  
"Well sorry isn't going to cut it."  
  
Sehun lowers his head at that and Jongin is surprised to see him look all defeated.  
  
"But if you'll take me out for coffee some time this weekend maybe things will be good." Jongin adds.  
  
Sehun head snaps up to look at him and his mouth drops open at that. Jongin is surprised as well. He wasn't expecting things to go this way.  
  
"What?" Jongin challenges. "Unless you made all that up?"  
  
Sehun closes his mouth, wipes the remaining blood off with the back of his hands then smiles. Jongin may be a little smitten. But he’ll never tell him that.  
  
"I'll meet you at the coffee place right across the office at three on Saturday then?" Sehun asks.  
  
"Fine," Jongin shrugs.  
  
"Fine."  
  
Jongin and Sehun head home that day without another word spoken to each other and the whole time, Jongin wonders just what the hell did he get himself into.


	8. Chapter 8

Usually, when Jongdae brings in Junmyeon's morning coffee, he'd knock on the door until Junmyeon would call out for him to come in. Jongdae is the kind of person who respects others' privacy. Not like Chanyeol who barges in Jongdae's firearms lab every single time as if he's about to tell him something important but it's just the recent update to his game.  
  
So when Jongdae brings Junmyeon's coffee, the usual freshly brewed, he's surprised to find him not answering the door at once. He had only knocked twice. He didn't want to sound annoying. And Junmyeon usually answers on the first knock anyway. But that morning, when Junmyeon still didn't answer on the second knock, enough for Jongdae to even think he wasn't in, Jongdae decided to open the door and see for himself what's keeping him busy.  
  
Junmyeon is in. He's busy looking at some files on his table. If Jongdae were to be completely honest, they looked like a lot of files rather than a few. It littered his huge desk and some of it had fallen to the floor. It would make sense for Junmyeon not to notice him knocking since he looks busy. But busy also seems to be an understatement. Junmyeon looks troubled.  
  
"Um, hyung?" Jongdae calls out softly. He hadn't stepped inside. He only popped his head through the doorway.  
  
Junmyeon finally looks up at the sound of his name. He's wearing a grey suit today with his hair up. He looks really handsome as usual but his brow is creased that the flutter in Jongdae's chest is replaced with concern and the need to know what's making him worry.  
  
"Oh. Jongdae. I'm sorry. How long were you out there?" He asks.  
  
Jongdae smiles at him. "Not long. I brought you coffee."  
  
The crease on Junmyeon's forehead smoothens as he smiles back. "Thank you."  
  
Jongdae walks inside his office and lays down the pastries he picked up for him right on his shelf. There wasn't any space left to put down anything in Junmyeon's cluttered desk.  
  
"Forgive me for the mess," Junmyeon says as he looks at his desk. He has his hands on his hips as if he just realized the sight before him.  
  
"It's your office, hyung," Jongdae points out. "And well, Chanyeol's desk looks worse."  
  
Junmyeon chuckles then turns to him. "That reminds me. Could you call Chanyeol over? I'd like to speak to the two of you before everyone comes in."  
  
Jongdae calls Chanyeol thru the phone while Junmyeon tidies up what he can before he arrives. He's curious as to what Junmyeon wants to talk to them about. Junmyeon never had to keep things private around here. It was obvious how he trusted his men. Jongdae doesn't doubt that he's having second thoughts now. This is Junmyeon. He knew all of them better than anyone else.  
  
Chanyeol arrives not long after the call with a doughnut in his hand. Junmyeon has them sit across from him in his desk which looks a little less cluttered than before Jongdae arrived.  
  
"What's up, hyung?" Chanyeol asks. Jongdae hands him a tissue when he sprays bits of doughnut from his mouth.  
  
"I'd like an update on how our files are being kept," Junmyeon says. "Were you able to set them up on our new servers?"  
  
Chanyeol nods. "Everything is in there since you started the business."  
  
"Secured?"  
  
"Yep!"  
  
"How secured?" Junmyeon asks and Jongdae can hear a tint of worry on his tone.  
  
Chanyeol swallows his food. "In case of fire or a natural calamity affecting the area, files are sent to a safehouse which I asked you to input the location two months ago. No one knows that. Not even me. No one would be able to take the files out either. They'd need my thumbs for that and yours. And in the event someone actually chopped our thumbs off or replicated our prints, they'd still need another secret identification and that's your eyes."  
  
Junmyeon makes a face. "Gory details. But thank you." Chanyeol smiles at this. "How about the perimeter? What other security measures have you added?"  
  
"Aside from the cameras, locks have been changed and facial recognition are added. Oh, you might want to get your father to come over soon so I can have his face scanned as well. He's the only one I haven't registered."  
  
"Noted." Junmyeon turns to Jongdae. "Are our weapons still good?"  
  
"I did the inventory two days ago and they're all in great condition. I'm still awaiting shipment for an additional set of firearms I purchased last week."  
  
"Communication and tracking devices?" Junmyeon eyes Chanyeol.  
  
"Up and running. We have tabs on our hitmen twenty four-seven. Kyungsoo wasn't too keen on that but he came around." Chanyeol answers.  
  
"Good, good." Junmyeon says, pacing behind his desk. "Jongdae, I need every one of them armed at all times. I suppose even Yixing needs to have one now. And so do the two of you."  
  
Chanyeol and Jongdae exchange looks but don't mention anything. It wasn't strange that Junmyeon would issue every one of them a single firearm. It happened before. But it was a long time ago and Jongdae wonders what's happening now for Junmyeon to bring this up again.  
  
"I'll call another meeting to inform the rest of what I told you. But for now, that is all."  
  
Chanyeol and Jongdae stand up when they're dismissed. They both head to the doors, Chanyeol licking the doughnut glaze off his fingers when Junmyeon calls out to them again.  
  
"Jongdae, I'd like you to stay for awhile."  
  
Chanyeol looks at Jongdae before he leaves. Chanyeol would tease him about Junmyeon but the look he gave him was one filled with concern. Jongdae only gives him a reassuring look back before he closes the door and takes his seat again.  
  
Junmyeon has his cup of coffee in his hands, the one Jongdae brought for him. The pastries are still untouched but it gives Jongdae comfort to know that at least he's having his coffee despite being busy.  
  
"I won't take much of your time," Junmyeon starts. "I just need you to schedule everyone to start practicing in the shooting range again. I know they're all skilled and they've already gone through training with you. But I need them to start practicing again."  
  
"Yeah, sure. No problem. Sehun's there once a week. He'll be thrilled to hear about this."  
  
Junmyeon nods. "Thank you."  
  
That signals the end of their discussion. Jongdae stands up to head for the door again when his concern gets the better of him.  
  
"Hyung? Are you alright?"  
  
He couldn't leave without knowing. He doesn't have to know what exactly is troubling Junmyeon. But he'd like to know if he's alright and if Jongdae left, would he be okay alone. Junmyeon spends a lot of time by himself. He only emerges from the office during lunch breaks and bathroom breaks and it's Jongdae who checks on him from time to time. Knowing how busy he is today has Jongdae already getting the hint not to disturb him in the next few weeks.  
  
Junmyeon looks at Jongdae for a while before leaning back in his seat.  
  
"You always seem to know what's troubling me."  
  
"It didn't take much to know. Chanyeol could tell. He just didn't say anything." Jongdae replies.  
  
A soft smile forms on Junmyeon’s face as he lowers his eyes to his desk. He taps his fingers on his armchair for a few seconds before replying.  
  
"A couple of hitmen from other establishments have been missing or found dead. Their offices were trashed and their files taken. And although that's not of our concern, my informant just advised me to take extra precautionary measures. We don't know what's causing this or what we're up against. We're not sure if it's some kind of new threat. But I'd like everyone to be safe."  
  
Junmyeon wasn't being private. Jongdae realized he was just being careful and keeping an eye out for everyone's safety. He also didn't want to worry anyone and Jongdae understood how this should be kept under wraps.  
  
"Alright. We'll be careful."  
  
Junmyeon dips his head in gratitude. "Our schedule is a bit lean next week. Have them train in the shooting range with you."  
  
Jongdae nods and he finally opens the door to leave. He takes one last look at Junmyeon before he steps outside, only to find his attention back to the papers on his desk.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
Scheduling a practice shooting session with the rest of the guys at the office wasn't considered work. They all treated it as a form of play and every afternoon, whenever anyone's free, the shooting range is filled with all of them playing who can take the most accurate hit on a target with the least number of bullets. Sehun always wins. On the first week he'd bet anyone a box of pizza to whoever challenges him. By the second week, everyone else was smart enough not to take his bets anymore.  
  
Everyone's always there. Yixing is everyone's favorite since he wasn't good with a gun so everyone liked taking turns to teach him. Even Kyungsoo came, surprising the rest. He didn't look like he wanted to be there. But as the weeks flew by, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Jongdae had to thank Baekhyun for that. He's always dragging Kyungsoo to hang out with them at the office these days.  
  
The only day where the shooting range is empty is during Friday. Jongdae knows everyone's schedule by now to know that no one's at the office during Friday evenings. So he takes this time to clean everything and replace the targets. The shooting range is always loud with the sound of guns firing, people laughing and yelling. But Friday nights are such peaceful nights that Jongdae enjoys spending the last of the work day in there rather than out where everyone is.  
  
One Friday night, just when he's about to get started on cleaning, he hears the sounds of gunfire coming from the shooting range. He knows everyone already left. Baekhyun was visiting his brother this weekend. Jongin was out with Sehun. Minseok could only be spending this night with Luhan. No one has any idea where Kyungsoo is but he definitely wouldn’t be here. Yixing left for some convention again and Chanyeol is brooding at home since Yixing turned down his offer for dinner, Yixing oblivious to the real meaning behind it.  
  
Jongdae has no idea who could be using the shooting range at this time so when he opens the door to the room, he's surprised to find Junmyeon inside.  
  
Junmyeon has never been a hitman. Jongdae doesn't think he's ever killed someone either but Junmyeon knows his way with any weapon. As to how good he is, Jongdae doesn't know. He's standing behind the safety line with safety goggles on and earmuffs, hand stretched out as he clutches a semi-automatic pistol. Jongdae watches him as he fires, his shots just hitting close below the target but never in it.  
  
"I thought you went home," Jongdae says when he's sure Junmyeon's done. He hadn't wanted to make his presence known earlier. He didn't want to scare Junmyeon in the middle of shooting and he makes sure to only speak up and step to his peripheral vision when he has the gun safely pointed down.  
  
Junmyeon doesn't seem surprised to have Jongdae walk in on him. Junmyeon turns to Jongdae to greet him and Jongdae finds him really attractive even with the safety goggles on. That usually looks funny to some. Especially to Chanyeol and Baekhyun, but for some reason, Junmyeon looks good in it.  
  
Junmyeon also has the sleeves of his dress shirt rucked up to his elbows. His tie is discarded along with his jacket on the chair on the far end of the room. He has the top two buttons on his shirt open and Jongdae focuses anywhere else other than his collarbones.  
  
"What?" Junmyeon asks, taking off his earmuffs and the earplugs he has on.  
  
"I thought you went home," Jongdae repeats as he walks up to him. He leaves his cleaning materials on the side of the door for later.  
  
"I was about to. And then I passed by here to see if any of the guys were still playing but no one's around. I ended up playing by myself," Junmyeon says sheepishly.  
  
"Hyung, it's Friday," Jongdae points out. "Of course no one's in here. And shouldn't you be out too?"  
  
"Jongdae, it's _Friday_ ," Junmyeon answers back with an amused smile. "This is probably the highlight of my night. I'm having fun."  
  
Junmyeon is not supposed to be here. He should be out there having dinner with friends or off on a date. He looks eligible and well, dressed properly. But Jongdae can't complain. He's here. On Jongdae's Friday night and he couldn't ask for a better companion.  
  
Jongdae looks at the target in front of him.  
  
"I know. I suck." Junmyeon sighs. "I still can't hit it right where I want it to."  
  
"Need any help?" Jongdae offers.  
  
"Please," Junmyeon replies.  
  
Jongdae positions behind Junmyeon. Up close, he can smell the scent of his cologne. It's a nice smell, one that's not too strong. Jongdae instructs him to pick up his gun and Junmyeon does so, loading it carefully and making sure to keep his finger safely outside the trigger. Jongdae smiles at this. It's always important to know the safety measures of handling a gun and Junmyeon seems to know them well.  
  
"You know you don't need to learn all this," Jongdae says behind him. "You have a lot of men to protect you."  
  
"I know. But I still want to be able to protect myself."  
  
Jongdae places his hands on Junmyeon's waist gently to pull him back to the safety line. He taps his feet for Junmyeon to spread them apart, matching his shoulder's width. Jongdae takes a step back to see his stance and makes additional adjustments like how high he's holding his gun in his hands.  
  
"Align your sight," Jongdae instructs. "Make sure the top of the front sight and the rear sight is aligned and aimed at your target."  
  
There's an intense look in Junmyeon's eyes and Jongdae wants so badly to take a picture of him on his phone. He's not sure if he can see this image of Junmyeon again looking like this, so serious and well, hot.  
  
"Jongdae?" Junmyeon asks. "What's next?"  
  
Junmyeon takes the earmuffs from the small table in front of him.  
  
"You'll need this," Jongdae places the earmuffs on him. He lets his fingers linger on the base of his neck, letting the feel of Junmyeon's hair sink in his touch before he pulls away.  
  
"I'll fire when I'm ready?" Junmyeon asks, voice a little louder than before and Jongdae just holds a thumbs up sign for him in reply.  
  
Jongdae doesn't even flinch when the gun goes off. Not even the loud jolting sound of it can shake his attention away from Junmyeon. He knows what he's doing is wrong. Junmyeon is his boss. Being infatuated with the boss isn't allowed. It's not in the handbook or written in the contract but Jongdae knows it's not ethical to pine after someone who issues your paycheck.  
  
And there's also that thing where Junmyeon probably doesn't swing the same way as Jongdae.  
  
"Ugh, so close," Junmyeon grumbles when he sees his mark near the target. Jongdae thinks he looks so cute pouting like that.  
  
"Try again," Jongdae suggests. He's not sure if Junmyeon heard but he does go again, firing a few more shots until he finally gets the hang of it and eventually hits the target.  
  
Junmyeon helps him clean up afterwards. Jongdae insisted he go home and do whatever he does on a Friday night but Junmyeon wouldn't leave. So there they are, sweeping and mopping the floors and replacing used targets. Junmyeon is a funny sight. He's wearing Jongdae's cleaning shoes, the ones that look big on his feet while holding a mop. Jongdae had laughed at him earlier and had taken a picture to which Junmyeon chased him around the room to have it deleted.  
  
"I should be the one attending the training," Junmyeon says when they're done. He's sitting on the couch in the room while Jongdae unloads and cleans the gun Junmyeon used earlier.  
  
"The guys would love to have you over. Yixing probably needs a break from everyone trying to fight over who gets to teach him."  
  
Junmyeon laughs, the sound of it light and relaxing.  
  
"So why are you here on a Friday night, Jongdae?" Junmyeon asks. "I refuse to believe you have nothing planned tonight."  
  
"I had plans," Jongdae motions to the shooting range and the cleaning mops.  
  
"I meant dinner plans," Junmyeon replies. "I'm sure there's a girl in the picture waiting for you back home."  
  
Jongdae stands up to put the gun back to its case.  
  
"I've never had a girlfriend," Jongdae answers.  
  
"Ah. Boyfriend then?"  
  
Jongdae nearly drops the gun he's holding. He doesn't dare look at Junmyeon to see if he's making fun of him. But he knows Junmyeon would never. He just doesn't want to look at him for fear that Junmyeon would see his face all red which is probably what it looks like right now.  
  
"Not in a long while," Jongdae finally manages to reply. He can't believe he just admitted to his boss that he's gay.  
  
"Too bad. Guys out there don't know what they're missing."  
  
Jongdae looks at Junmyeon now and he finds him just tying the laces on his shoes rather than giving Jongdae a judging look like he was expecting. He lets Junmyeon's words sink in. That had to have been a compliment and Jongdae's heart starts racing.  
  
"What about you?" Jongdae asks, clearing his throat as they both stand up to leave. Junmyeon hits the lights and they're surrounded in darkness with only the light from the hallways illuminating them. "Don't you have plans? A date with a girlfriend?"  
  
"No girlfriend.” Junmyeon smiles. “Girls aren't exactly the kind I'm looking for either."  
  
Jongdae is pleased to know this from Junmyeon himself and that night, after Junmyeon drops him off and he's safe within the confines of his apartment with no one there to see the huge smile on his face, Jongdae lets out the internal squeal he's holding and plops himself face first on his bed.  
  
A few minutes later, when the butterflies and the giddiness die down, enough for rational thoughts to settle in, Jongdae groans out loud when he realizes how ridiculously and helplessly in love he is with his boss.  
  



	9. Chapter 9

It's early in the morning when Baekhyun drops off Kyungsoo's mission at his place. Junmyeon gave it to him the night before when he spotted Baekhyun at the office turning in his weapons after his mission. Junmyeon hadn't asked if Baekhyun can drop them off at Kyungsoo's. He doesn't ask anymore. It has become a routine that Baekhyun has no problem with and one that Junmyeon is pleased to see since he liked someone checking up on Kyungsoo once in a while.  
  
The tall grasses and broken fences greet Baekhyun as usual. They don't scare him like it used to. He's been over so many times that they all seem like decor. It's an odd way to put it but it does look that way. Baekhyun supposes this is what Kyungsoo sees that's why he never understood Baekhyun complaining about them before. They're all just decor in Baekhyun's eyes now as well even if it is an ugly sight.  
  
He catches Kyungsoo before he can even knock. He has his jacket on and is dressed in such dark colors as usual with his beanie in his hand. Kyungsoo only looks at him as a greeting as Baekhyun holds out the mission folder he has.  
  
"Junmyeon handed it last night. You don't have to deal with it until the end of the week," Baekhyun says. Kyungsoo mutters out a thanks as he opens his door once more, walks back inside to toss it on his couch and then goes back out the door again.  
  
"You're heading out?" Baekhyun asks even if it obviously looks like it.  
  
"Breakfast," Kyungsoo answers, already heading down the stairs.  
  
"Oh good." Baekhyun follows after him. "I haven't had any either."  
  
He's learned by now that Kyungsoo doesn't mind when he's around. At first he did and Baekhyun could tell. That didn't stop him from trying to befriend him. But he did know when to step back and not cross any boundary. Baekhyun talked. But he didn't pry and that, Baekhyun thinks, was important to Kyungsoo. Sure Kyungsoo was annoyed and irritated at him whenever he opened his mouth at first. But Baekhyun feels like he doesn't mind it so much now.  
  
They get around the tall grasses and the broken fences easily. They pass by Kyungsoo's car in the small garage he set up and Baekhyun feels a pang of guilt as he catches sight of it. Kyungsoo's still in the process of fixing it. The damage to his windshield is still there from where Baekhyun led men to him while he was being chased. There are bullet holes in the front and they look like spiderwebs filled the entirety of it. Baekhyun had given Kyungsoo money and offered to have it fixed. He also told him he'd clean the carpet floors since it still has his blood on it. But Kyungsoo declined numerous times and Baekhyun dropped it when he saw him getting annoyed every time he mentioned it.  
  
Kyungsoo has his hands on his jean pockets as they walk out of there. Baekhyun rubbed his own palms together when he noticed and felt the cold. Kyungsoo's area was always cold. Living by the port always meant having first dibs of the sea breeze. Baekhyun likes it. His apartment is stuck in between tall buildings and his view isn't that much. Kyungsoo always has the freshest air and the best view of the sunset. Except sometimes when there's a shipment being hauled in for the day and then the whole area is blocked by cargo ships and the air smells like fish.  
  
But today is nice. Baekhyun tugs his baseball cap lower as he walks beside Kyungsoo. For a small person, Kyungsoo's strides are large so Baekhyun always has to keep up with him.  
  
"You always cook breakfast," Baekhyun states as he continues rubbing his palms together.  
  
"I wanted to eat out today," Kyungsoo answers, placing his beanie on. "And I didn't do my grocery."  
  
Baekhyun feigns a gasp. "Do Kyungsoo forgetting to do his grocery?"  
  
Kyungsoo scowls. "If you stop visiting me and eating all my food then I won't have to run out on them so fast."  
  
"But you like feeding me." Baekhyun knows Kyungsoo absolutely likes cooking for him but wouldn't admit it out loud. After Baekhyun's attempt at making him porridge, Baekhyun felt like Kyungsoo never forgave him for that and has made him taste what he cooked every chance he got.  
  
Kyungsoo huffs in reply and Baekhyun smiles to himself knowing how true that was.  
  
They walk down a few more blocks with Baekhyun chattering about his mission yesterday. He tells Kyungsoo about the usual mishaps to which Kyungsoo only snorts in reply. Baekhyun always takes Kyungsoo's snorts as a sort of laugh. He likes amusing him with his stories.  
  
Kyungsoo leads him inside a small diner. Baekhyun has never seen the place before but he likes it already. It's small yet it doesn't look cramped. It's not empty either. Baekhyun presumes the people having breakfast at the moment were regulars because one just nodded at Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo nodded back.  
  
Baekhyun doesn't ask how he found this place or who that person was. There are a lot of things Baekhyun wants to learn about Kyungsoo that he's always wanted to ask. Like where he learned how to cook. How come he's living alone in a run down building. Why he likes his car so much. Why did he become a hitman. These are questions Baekhyun wants to know. Especially the last one. But he can also sense these are private things so he doesn't ask them even if he is insanely curious.  
  
Baekhyun orders a hearty meal of bacon and eggs and waffles. He's been living off of microwaveable dinners that every morning, his stomach rumbles for some real food.  
  
"That's not healthy." Kyungsoo eyes his plate. He has bagels with cream cheese and some smoked salmon. Baekhyun thinks it looks fancy and probably doesn't taste at all good compared to his bacon.  
  
" _That_  doesn't look like it's going to last me till lunch," Baekhyun replies with his mouth filled with food. Kyungsoo grimaces at him but doesn't say anything else.  
  
Baekhyun was right about the regulars. The waitress who served them their food knew who Kyungsoo was and asked if he'd like his usual tea. The man who nodded at Kyungsoo waved at him again before he left. These were people that piqued Baekhyun's curiosity. He hadn't even realized Kyungsoo would have other friends outside of their office. Or that he was capable of making friends. This was another thing Baekhyun wanted to know. He considered himself Kyungsoo's friend now but he still feels like the people in this diner knew him better than he did.  
  
He's deep in his thoughts when he realized that Kyungsoo paid for their meal. Baekhyun looked at him but Kyungsoo only shrugged, closing his wallet and sipping quietly at his tea as he waits for Baekhyun to finish. By the time they walk out of there, Baekhyun is groaning how full he is and that Kyungsoo has to carry him on the way back. Kyungsoo only drags him by his shirt so he can keep up with him.  
  
"Oh," Baekhyun stops when he sees a certain flier taped to a lamp post. "There's a fair near here. Do you want to check it out?"  
  
"Don't you have to be back at the office?" Kyungsoo asks.  
  
"I have no mission," Baekhyun answers. "Why? Do you have somewhere else you need to be?"  
  
"Home."  
  
Baekhyun gives a nod of his head. "The fair it is."  
  
Baekhyun has been to fairs when he was little. He would go with his brother during the weekends and they'd save the money they'd get from their allowances for the week and spend it all there. Small trinkets. Cotton candy. Arcade games. Entrance fees to a few shows. He's never been back when his brother left the city to work some place else. And Baekhyun didn't have the time. Killing people took up most of his schedule now.  
  
Being back makes him miss it and he drags Kyungsoo to a few booths to watch as kids threw balls at a target so the man sitting on a contraption atop a tub would get plunged in water. He takes him to see the wild rides, the strange displays, the colorful carousels. At one point, Baekhyun stopped in his tracks. Kyungsoo standing there with the pink and yellow ponies painted behind him made him laugh.  
  
"What?" Kyungsoo asks.  
  
Kyungsoo looks so out of place in his getup. Baekhyun takes Kyungsoo's beanie off his head, ignores the protest that come from him and switches it with the baseball cap he has on.  
  
"There," Baekhyun says, pocketing Kyungsoo's beanie. "Now you don't look like you want to murder someone."  
  
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at that. He takes off his cap and Baekhyun thinks he's going to return it to him when Kyungsoo only drags his fingers through his hair and places it back on neatly.  
  
"Can we leave?" Kyungsoo asks, looking around with a frown. "It's too crowded in here."  
  
"Ah but you haven't seen the most interesting stuff yet."  
  
Baekhyun takes him to where the shops are. There are small booths that sell different kinds of merchandise and Baekhyun knows the one he's looking for would be around here. He hasn't been to a fair in years and he only hopes they still carried the same old stuff he knew back then. He gives an excited shout when he sees it and he grabs Kyungsoo's hand to take him there.  
  
"Where exactly are you- "  
  
Baekhyun watches as Kyungsoo's eyes widen at the collection he's seeing. Baekhyun has been to Kyungsoo's place numerous times and he always sees the collection of old movies he has in his room. He's never seen most of these movies before but he knows some of the titles.  
  
"They can't be selling this." Kyungsoo mutters to himself as his hands reach out to touch a cover lightly.  
  
"They do. They're a bit expensive but for a good reason," Baekhyun says beside him.  
  
Baekhyun leaves Kyungsoo alone when it's evident he's lost in all that stuff. He goes over to a few stalls nearby and checks some of the stuff out. He sees a few trinkets and picks up a small giraffe stuffed toy for Chanyeol and some weird looking ear muffs for Jongdae. He's deciding whether to buy a "# 1 Daddy" nameplate for Junmyeon's office when Kyungsoo finally comes back.  
  
"I'm surprised you didn't buy out the whole store," Baekhyun says when he sees Kyungsoo with a small paper bag in hand.  
  
"I had the rest shipped," Kyungsoo comments silently. Baekhyun can see the tips of his ears are red as he moves past him muttering about getting some fresh air.  
  
The smell of fried food reels them towards the food section. Despite having so much for breakfast, Baekhyun is hungry all over again. He doesn't seem to be the only one. Kyungsoo is eyeing a stall that's selling nachos.  
  
Baekhyun nudges him. "What, does Junmyeon have you in a weight loss regimen or something? Go get some."  
  
"They're not actually... healthy," Kyungsoo replies. Baekhyun doesn't wait for him to get it. He pays for it himself, tells the store owner to add lots of cheese and hands it over to Kyungsoo whose eyes widen even more.  
  
Baekhyun tells him to eat the whole pack.  
  
"It's not going to kill you today."  
  
They walk around the fair with Kyungsoo happily eating his nachos and Baekhyun nibbling on his churro. Baekhyun is stealing glances at him whenever he can. Kyungsoo doesn't look like the ruthless hitman he is when they're on their missions. Today, he looks like a kid enjoying his day off as he licks the cheese from his fingers. Baekhyun supposes this is his first time at a fair and again, he wants to ask why he's never been to one before.  
  
So many questions and Baekhyun tucks them all inside his head to ask Kyungsoo about them someday.  
  
They pass by a ride that has a huge pink heart painted on the doorway. Baekhyun stops in front of it while he waits for Kyungsoo to throw his empty nachos container on a nearby trash.  
  
"Do you want to go on one?" Baekhyun asks, his voice teasing.  
  
Kyungsoo squints at the doorway, trying to figure out what that is. When he sees it's a love ride, he shoots Baekhyun a look.  
  
"No. Definitely not with you."  
  
"Why not?" Baekhyun wails. "I'm the most ideal person you should be going with in there."  
  
"I probably wouldn't enjoy it. You'd be yapping the entire ride."  
  
"I'll be quiet. I promise," Baekhyun bats his eyes at him. For a second, Baekhyun thinks his joke had gone too far because Kyungsoo is suddenly quiet and looking at him. Baekhyun drops the act, ready to apologize when Kyungsoo quickly grabs his hand and pulls him inside.  
  
"Hey, wait-"  
  
Baekhyun quiets when Kyungsoo pushes him to the side and against the wall. It's suddenly dark and the music playing isn't making things better. Kyungsoo's so close that Baekhyun can smell the nachos on him. But that doesn't gross him out one bit. He can't actually think about being grossed out when Kyungsoo's this close to him with his hands on his waist.  
  
Baekhyun is suddenly nervous. He can feel his heart hammering inside his chest and he prays that Kyungsoo doesn't hear it. He can't tell if this is a joke. Kyungsoo doesn't seem to be the kind that jokes around. But he doesn't seem to be the kind that pulls this kind of stunt either.  
  
Baekhyun tries to move when Kyungsoo pins him against the wall tighter.  
  
"What are you doing?" Baekhyun finally dares to ask, his voice coming out in a hushed whisper.  
  
"Sshhh," Kyungsoo replies.  
  
Baekhyun stares at him, trying to make out his face in the dark and wondering what's going on when he hears _it_.  
  
 _"What are you talking about? EXO is probably the best out there."_  
  
 _"Yes. But with the new bozos coming in, they’re not as good as they once were before. Where are they? I swear I just saw them around here."_  
  
Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo whose face is now visible albeit still dark. They were being followed. Baekhyun cranes his neck to see who it is. But Kyungsoo only pins him back again.  
  
Kyungsoo gives him a look in warning. He knew they were being followed and that's what this is all about.  
  
Kyungsoo loosens his hold on him once Baekhyun finally understands the situation. Baekhyun watches as Kyungsoo takes his phone out and uses it as a recorder.  
  
 _"Look, it’s not even EXO the boss needs. He just needs_  their  _boss."_  
  
Someone snorts. _"And you suppose taking Kim Junmyeon would be easy?"_  
  
 _"Well, no."  
  
"No. That's why we have to deal with his minions first."_  
  
 _"Minions,"_ The other one laughs.  _"They’re exactly like that. Except for those two tall ones."_  
  
 _"Well we’re not dealing with them right now. We’re dealing with those two who we’ve now lost."  
  
"Let’s head over to the shops. One of them seemed to like it so much."_  
  
Baekhyun stays pinned to the wall until Kyungsoo finally moves away from him. He can tell the childlike wonder in Kyungsoo's eyes are gone as they slip out of there quick. He's back to being a hitman, back to being his usual self. Baekhyun shouldn't have stolen glances earlier. He should've stared and looked all he wanted at the Kyungsoo whose eyes widened at the sight of old movie collections and nachos. The Kyungsoo who tipped his head back to enjoy the morning breeze while they walked.  
  
They head out of there, careful and quick. They make sure to flit in through the crowd to lose sight of anyone following them. When they're sure it's just the two of them, Kyungsoo hails a cab for them to get in. Baekhyun is silent beside him. He's too busy thinking. He's storing the moments of the two of them back at the fair in a corner of his head while he thinks of the one he overheard.  
  
Of course EXO would have enemies. It's only natural. They've taken out many groups before and it would certainly spark something. And it's a business. They compete with the rest on who gets to hire who. But it is exactly a business that Baekhyun thinks it's strange that people would want them taken down. People among them hire them for a purpose. They need them. To take them down would be... petty.  
  
He registers the cab slowing down and he looks out the window to find they're a block down his apartment building. Baekhyun turns to Kyungsoo when he sees him typing on his phone.  
  
"You should start packing for your hiking trip tomorrow."  
  
Baekhyun is confused for a moment when Kyungsoo shows him his phone screen.  
  
 _Go home. Head inside. Check for any wiring, any cameras. Make sure your phone line isn't tapped. Better yet, don't call anyone._  
  
"I'll be gone for days. I'll see you next week then." Baekhyun replies out loud, following his scheme as Kyungsoo types in another message. They have to be careful right now. Anyone is an enemy and even if they’re sure no one followed them home, they’d still have to play dumb and assume that anyone could be listening in on them.  
  
 _Chanyeol gave you a secure line but don't use it either. I'll have him check on it when I get to the office._  
  
"I won't be around. I'll be out of town." Kyungsoo says back at him as Baekhyun takes his phone out too and keys in his reply.  
  
 _You're heading to the office now? I'm coming with you._  
  
Kyungsoo reads it and a crease forms on his brow.  
  
 _I have to tell Junmyeon what we heard. But you can't come now. Check your place first. Come to the office afterwards if you want. Junmyeon will have called a meeting by then. For now, make sure your apartment's safe._  
  
Baekhyun looks at him. He can tell what Kyungsoo's trying to say.  _Leave this to the higher ups for now._  
  
"Have fun,” Kyungsoo says when he gets out of the cab. "And be careful."  
  
Baekhyun stalls, his hand still on the cab's door. He doesn't want to leave. Or more like, he doesn't want to be separated from Kyungsoo for now. He knows that Kyungsoo is capable enough on his own and Baekhyun is too. But wouldn't it be better for them to stick together right now?  
  
He's probably easy to read because Kyungsoo takes one good look at him and then exits the cab. He tells the driver to give him a few minutes. Baekhyun watches as he reach for his beanie that's sticking out of Baekhyun's back pocket. Kyungsoo then reaches for him and tugs the beanie down on top of his head. His beanie is indeed huge and it engulfs Baekhyun's head.  
  
Baekhyun blinks at him.  
  
"Be careful," Kyungsoo says, lowering the baseball cap he has on and this time, Baekhyun knows that there isn't any other hidden message for this.  
  
"You too." He says in reply. Kyungsoo looks at him for a second longer then slips back inside the cab. He leaves Baekhyun in the sidewalk, watching as the cab drives off.


	10. Chapter 10

_"Look, it’s not even EXO the boss needs. He just needs their boss."  
  
"And you suppose taking Kim Junmyeon would be easy?"  
  
"Well, no."  
  
"No. That's why we have to deal with his minions first."_  
  
Junmyeon can feel his jaw tighten as he listens to the conversation playing on Kyungsoo's phone. He's standing behind his desk, Kyungsoo's phone situated in the middle of it while Chanyeol, Jongdae and Kyungsoo are standing around him, listening to the whole thing. From the corner of his eye he can see Chanyeol and Jongdae look at him when his name was mentioned. But Junmyeon keeps his eyes glued to the phone, not wanting to see the worried looks on their faces.  
  
This is the second time Junmyeon is listening to this. Kyungsoo arrived earlier to make him listen to it alone. He had surprised Junmyeon for visiting him since he never visits the office and Junmyeon thought he was here to hang out like what the rest did. He liked seeing his men come to the office even if it's to do nothing. He likes keeping tabs on them this way. But when Kyungsoo entered his office and locked the door behind him, Junmyeon knew it was something else.  
  
Junmyeon takes the phone, stops the playback and hands it over to Chanyeol who's looking at him like he's worried Junmyeon's going to be taken right in front of his eyes. Junmyeon loves his men dearly. But right now, he needs them to worry about themselves rather than him.  
  
"Run it through the database. See if you have a hit on those voices. Report to me when you're done." Junmyeon commands. Chanyeol nods, taking Kyungsoo's phone before he leaves.  
  
It's Jongdae he turns to next.  
  
"Our men are armed at all times?"  
  
"Yes," Jongdae says. Junmyeon likes how his voice is firm and he's not looking at him the way Chanyeol did. "I've issued guns for everyone."  
  
Junmyeon nods and then looks at Kyungsoo.  
  
"You didn't see their faces?" He asks.  
  
Kyungsoo shakes his head. "No. They had their backs to us."  
  
"What were you and Baekhyun doing at a fair?" Jongdae asks lightly causing Kyungsoo to look uncomfortable.  
  
Junmyeon chuckles. "Jongdae, we're glad they were there. Otherwise we would never have known we were being tailed."  
  
Jongdae nods and Junmyeon can tell he's fighting back a smile. They both know Baekhyun and Kyungsoo have been hanging out more often than usual. Junmyeon is very pleased to know they were together when this happened. It's safer to be together than to be alone. He can't even stomach the fact that someone was following them and now they're all being observed right this moment.  
  
The only safe place right now is the office. Everywhere else is dangerous.  
  
"I'm calling a meeting tonight," Junmyeon announces. “We need everyone to check their houses and phones.”  
  
"Minseok hyung has a mission scheduled tonight." Jongdae says.  
  
"Afterwards then. We need to have it tonight. You're all dismissed."  
  
Jongdae leaves first, closing the door behind him silently. Junmyeon sits down on his chair and looks at Kyungsoo when he sees him just standing there with his eyes on the door. He knows why he stayed behind and what he's about to say but Junmyeon waits it out. He's known Kyungsoo for a long time to know the man works at his own pace.  
  
"You know who it is," Kyungsoo says, voice deep and low for only the two of them to hear. If anyone could be listening in on them from outside the room, they wouldn't have heard what he said. Although Junmyeon knows no one is there. His men know better than to listen in on his private conversations.  
  
"No," Junmyeon replies. "I don't know."  
  
"You have your suspicions."  
  
"I do," Junmyeon admits. "But they're only suspicions."  
  
"And when has that ever stopped you?" Kyungsoo asks, his face now turned to him and Junmyeon can see how angry and frustrated he is. He's scared, Junmyeon thinks. He is too. He never wants for what happened all those years ago to come back and harm them again. All because of the choices he made.  
  
Junmyeon holds his gaze and carefully says what he knows Kyungsoo wants to hear.  
  
"Luhan is dead. _They_ know nothing more than that."  
  
"But what if they know he isn't?" Kyungsoo asks in between his teeth.  
  
"Impossible," Junmyeon answers. "And we're not even sure this is the same person who's sending these people to tail us. We have many enemies. We always get the same threats. My suspicions remain only as that."  
  
"And yet he's the one you're thinking about, isn't he."  
  
He is. Junmyeon can see his face in his head and it's always the same image. Of him looking at Junmyeon from across the room with a glint in his eyes. He never smiles. But he does so at Junmyeon and Junmyeon blinks the image away before it sears itself forever behind his eyelids.  
  
"They wanted you," Kyungsoo speaks up, bringing him back to the safety of his office. Kyungsoo is talking about the conversation they heard on his phone. "They're holding you responsible."  
  
Junmyeon gives a small smile. "I am responsible. For all of you."  
  
This has Kyungsoo scowl. Junmyeon is very protective of his business and the people running it. He is aware of the risks that his men take for his business to thrive. Junmyeon treasures each of their lives. Not because it brings him money but because these men are not like any of the men in the hitmen business. His men have hearts and are only committed to taking the lives of those who are living it to destroy others.  
  
Junmyeon is very protective of his men. But he knows Kyungsoo is especially the most protective. He isn’t a man with so many words but Junmyeon has always known why Kyungsoo treats them like this. After all, they’re the only family Kyungsoo has.  
  
These people. His men… They’re all Junmyeon’s family too. He can’t let their lives be taken away all because of him.  
  
“We’ll talk more later,” Junmyeon promises. “But right now, I need you to be careful.”  
  
Kyungsoo doesn’t nod. He only turns around and leaves Junmyeon alone and in the silence of his own thoughts.


	11. Chapter 11

Minseok's heart is racing as he takes the stairs two steps at a time. He made sure to get home as fast as he could, even going so far as to pay the taxi driver more than what was charged just so he could get home quick.  
  
He's tired. He just finished a mission that required him to fight off men by combat rather than use his weapons more so his muscles are a bit sore. His back is aching too from where he was thrown against a wall and his sides hurt where he was elbowed and punched. But he pays no mind to all of that. Not even when his thighs are aching badly as he continues climbing the stairs.  
  
He's worried about Luhan. Junmyeon called them all earlier that night for a meeting. Apparently they were being followed and observed. Junmyeon advised them all to be careful, to check their phone lines and for any hidden cameras. Minseok is sure his place is the most secure. He and Luhan did most of their security and not even Chanyeol can tap into their place. But he had taken Junmyeon's words seriously by running tests around their perimeter. They were both in the clear but it's still making Minseok feel agitated and the only way he knows how to put all his fears to rest is to see his husband.  
  
Junmyeon's warnings and words of being careful wouldn't usually get to him like this. They were used to receiving threats sometimes. But when Junmyeon pulled him aside once the meeting was over and specifically told him he didn't want him to worry but to please be extra careful, Minseok knew just what kind of threats they were and how it concerned him.  
  
Minseok has his keys out by the time he arrives on their floor. He has to calm his shaking hands just so he can insert his keys on the lock without rattling it so much. He sees Luhan's shoes by the doorway and hears voices from the television in their living room when he enters so he knows he's in. But Minseok still closes the door silently, activates three of their security locks and has his hand positioned to grab his pistol he always keeps with him just in case.  
  
Luhan is on the couch with his feet propped up on their coffee table. He has his back to him and the smell of popcorn in the air has Minseok presume he’s having a bowl filled with one on his lap. Minseok approaches him silently, eyes roaming around the room for anything off when Luhan speaks up.  
  
"If you think you were going to surprise me, you shouldn't have hurried up the stairs.”  
  
Minseok stares at the back of Luhan’s head for a few more seconds then releases his tight grip around the pistol tucked behind his back. Luhan turns to him and smiles.  
  
"You got me," Minseok smiles back as he straightens up. Luhan licks the butter from his fingers and settles the bowl of popcorn down on the table. He then rises on his knees on the couch as he turns to Minseok, his movie forgotten behind him.  
  
“I always do,” Luhan teases, leaning forwards on the couch’s cushions and Minseok approaches him for a kiss. Luhan tastes like popcorn and home and Minseok sighs into his lips, his heartbeat no longer frantic as he wraps his arms around his waist. Luhan is here. He’s kissing him. He’s in his arms. He’s safe.  
  
“Was it the running?” Minseok asks curiously as he pulls away for a bit. “Was I loud?”  
  
Luhan looks at him as if the answer was obvious enough.  
  
“You were being you. I’d know your footsteps anywhere, Minseok.”  
  
He shouldn’t have worried so much. This is Luhan. He still has it even when he hasn’t been a hitman for years. He’s familiar with Minseok’s movements that if it wasn’t him earlier, Luhan would’ve known and he would’ve done something about it.  
  
He really shouldn’t worry. Luhan is capable enough to keep himself safe on his own.  
  
“Sorry for interrupting your movie,” Minseok murmurs against his husband’s lips as he leans in close again.  
  
“Naah,” Luhan gives him one last kiss before he pulls away completely and hops off the couch. “I was going to shower anyway. Want to join me?”  
  
Minseok laughs at the teasing hint in Luhan’s voice.  
  
“You go on first. I have to call Kyungsoo about something.”  
  
Minseok waits until he hears Luhan in the bathroom and the shower running. When he does so, he gives the whole place a full security check. He checks the windows and the locks, feels the book cases and the top shelves for any hidden cameras. He turns their bed over quick for any unusual signs and then flips them back over and arranges the sheets. He makes sure the phones in their small study is still secure and the wirings untapped. When he’s done, he keys in another set of security they always have on stand by. If Luhan asks why they were activated, Minseok will just tell him he’s doing their monthly routine checks.  
  
Luhan is done and dressed just when Minseok has finally cleared the kitchen. He then takes his turn to use the shower while Luhan sits on the closed toilet lid, scrolling through his phone screen and humming some song while drying his hair.  
  
Minseok listens to Luhan’s voice and uses that to relax. He’s still on edge even if he knows they’re both safe. It’s the memories that keep coming back to him, haunting him even if he knows perfectly well that it’s all in the past now and nothing is going to take Luhan away from him ever again.  
  
“You’re quiet,” Luhan says to him. Minseok stares at his fuzzed up figure from the frosted shower doors.  
  
“Just a little tired,” Minseok replies, busying himself by lathering his body with soap.  
  
Luhan doesn’t ask more. Minseok is thankful for that.  
  
The day Luhan “died”, Minseok was on his way back to the office after his own mission. He arrived, cheerful about how easy and quick the whole thing was and was about to ask the guys if they wanted to order in pizza for dinner. They were being careful these days and Junmyeon had advised them not to go out so much except if it’s to go home or to head on to their missions. Even their missions were being monitored well by Junmyeon. They were being targeted by a rival hitmen group and Junmyeon, not wanting to play into their games, made sure everyone was always together and safe.  
  
He remembered walking inside the office and stopping at the sight he saw. Kyungsoo was standing by the window, his head lowered and eyes staring blankly at the ground. Jongdae was doing the same thing only that his fists were curled tightly by his sides. Chanyeol’s eyes were red and he was the only one looking at Minseok. Minseok didn’t like the look he was giving him so he looked at the others. Yixing was sitting on his desk, papers in his hands but he didn’t seem to be working on them either. And there was Junmyeon, standing beside Jongdae but with his back turned to them all.  
  
He had asked them what was the matter. Why did the air around the room seem so grim. Why Chanyeol looked like he was just crying. Why they were all just standing there.  
  
Where Luhan was.  
  
It was Junmyeon who told him. Although if Minseok recalled correctly, Junmyeon hadn’t even said anything. It was as if Minseok knew before he could even open his mouth to speak. The look on his face when he turned around slowly, the rest of them just standing there, the tension they were all in that past month was enough of an answer. He remembers Junmyeon just telling him he was so sorry and Minseok backing out of there in sheer horror and denial. He remembered fumbling for his gun in his holster, ready to bolt out of there. But he was so numb that he couldn’t move properly. Kyungsoo was the one who caught his arms from behind, taking his firearm from him and letting Jongdae handle the rest. Minseok could only remember falling slowly and helplessly into the ground as his chest felt like it was being ripped open.  
  
He hadn’t cried out loud. But he remembered shaking so much in anger and in grief and Kyungsoo was holding him tight in his arms as he continued to sob silently.  
  
The sound of Luhan suddenly laughing has Minseok snap out of that memory and he blinks away the water in his eyes.  
  
“Jongdae sent me a photo of Chanyeol sleeping,” Luhan chuckles.  
  
He’s here. He’s not dead. Minseok keeps on reminding himself that as he furiously rinses himself off. He can’t think of Luhan’s “death” as something real.  
  
Luhan tosses him a towel to dry off before heading to their bedroom. He’s wearing just his favorite light cotton sleeping pants and Minseok takes a few minutes to admire how attractive his husband is. He was greatly infatuated with that face at first and then his charms. But it was his silliness whenever they were together and the drive he has when he was on the field that made him fall in love with him. Luhan was an amazing strategist. He was quick and skilled. He was also sexy and cute and beautiful and handsome inside and out that Minseok sometimes wondered just what he did in his past life to deserve a man like him.  
  
Minseok chose not to wear anything when he climbs on the bed beside Luhan. His husband didn’t seem to mind, his attention still focused on the pictures Jongdae sent him that evening. Minseok makes a mental note to thank him when he gets back to the office tomorrow. He knows it was Jongdae’s way of diverting Luhan’s attention from him because Jongdae knew just how anxious Minseok would be when he got home.  
  
“I miss them,” Luhan sighs beside him as he finally settles his phone on the bedside table. “I should stop by sometime.”  
  
“Yes,” Minseok hums along Luhan’s bare shoulder. “They miss you too.”  
  
Luhan turns to him, meeting his lips and Minseok kisses him tenderly, his hands draped across Luhan’s waist.  
  
“I thought you were tired.” Luhan says softly and Minseok sucks on his bottom lip, giving it an eager yet gentle tug.  
  
“Not really. I’ve been thinking a lot about you on the way home.”  
  
Luhan grins. “Really?”  
  
“Yeah,” Minseok pulls him close, letting his hands wrap around him tighter.  
  
“What exactly about me were you thinking?” Luhan asks, still smiling as he welcomes Minseok’s kisses on his neck.  
  
“Just you.” Minseok darts his tongue out as he licks a stripe of his skin just where his collarbones dip. Luhan shudders at that. “You. In me.”  
  
Luhan pushes him down the bed as he hovers over him. Minseok pulls him down with him, kissing him softly yet it’s filled with longing as if he hasn’t seen him in days. Luhan pulls his own pants down and discards them quick. He then reaches for the lube on their bedside drawer, fumbling for a moment since Minseok is still busy kissing him. Minseok already has his legs spread out for him when he finds it and Luhan works him open, his fingers rough and gentle and everything Minseok wants him to do to him.  
  
 _“Cry,”_ Kyungsoo had whispered to him so silently the night Luhan “died” and Minseok continued to sob in his arms. _“Cry as hard as you can.”_  
  
Minseok did even without anyone telling him to. It hadn’t struck him as strange when Kyungsoo whispered him this but the next words he uttered was the strangest.  
  
 _“Let them see you cry.”_  
  
Minseok was so confused but he was also hurting that he couldn’t tell what was going on. Only when he felt like he was being moved did he stop sobbing but he was still whimpering and shaking quietly that Junmyeon had to help Kyungsoo lead him to his office.  
  
“You’re shaking,” Luhan says to him and Minseok stares up at his husband, the present and the past overlapping in his head. Luhan’s hair falls to his face as he bends Minseok’s legs to his chest.  
  
“Just… hurry up,” Minseok breathes, his groin aching already with the need to be filled and taken.  
  
Luhan chuckles and only dips down to kiss his cheek.  
  
“Why? Missed me that much?” He teases, voice husky and sending wondrous goosebumps in Minseok’s skin.  
  
Minseok reaches for him, curling his hand around the back of his neck as he pulls him down. Luhan laughs in his kisses as Minseok wraps his legs around his waist and hurriedly pushes him inside him with the heels of his feet.  
  
 _“He’s not dead.”_  
  
Minseok remembers blinking at Junmyeon with tears still gathering at the corner of his eyes.  
  
 _“He’s not dead,”_ Junmyeon had said to him, while Kyungsoo went about his office, clipping something on the wires on Junmyeon’s phone.  
  
 _“What?”_  Minseok asked, his voice coming out cracked and ugly.  
  
 _“I’ll explain soon. But right now, I need you to go home, take these sleeping pills and pretend you’re still in grief.”_ Junmyeon instructed, handing him the pills and asking Kyungsoo if he’s done.  
  
 _“Cameras are under our control now.”_  Kyungsoo said. It had taken Minseok days to realize that someone was spying on Junmyeon’s office and they’ve known for a while. This was all a setup and only Minseok and Kyungsoo knew.  
  
 _“Kyungsoo will take you home,”_  Junmyeon said to him. _“You will cry. You will not talk to anyone. Not even to Chanyeol, Jongdae or Yixing. You will go to sleep. You will not step out of your apartment for two weeks.”_  
  
 _“Junmyeon, what’s going on-”_  Minseok had asked desperately.  
  
 _“Luhan is alive. I promise.”_  Junmyeon squeezed his hand.  _“Just do as I tell you.”_  
  
Luhan is alive. Those were the only words Minseok needed to hear from him to come back to his senses.  
  
“Minseok,” Luhan moans in his ear as Minseok rocks his hips to his thrusts. Luhan is all sharp edges while Minseok, even with his lean figure, is all curves. Luhan grabs a handful of his ass and digs his fingers in them.  
  
Minseok grunts and arches his back while Luhan pinches his nipples. The pain causes him to gasp. He brings Luhan’s face to his as he kisses him. He sucks on his tongue, worries his lip and bites especially hard, enough to draw blood and Luhan hisses, his hips pistoning in and out of him frantically.  
  
Minseok pushes him away, just fast enough for him to flip and lie on his stomach with his ass tipped for him and Luhan takes him again, his cock sliding inside his walls deeper than before.  
  
“You’re tense,” Luhan pants. Minseok only buries his face in the pillows. He can’t give a proper reply when Luhan feels so hot inside him. It has his stomach coiling and his own erection throbbing.  
  
“Relax. I’ll take care of you.”  
  
Minseok breathes, getting himself to loosen up for Luhan. He feels him stroke his back, running his fingers down his spine and caressing him.  
  
 _“Luhan?”_  Minseok remembered the day he woke up to Luhan stroking and caressing his face. It was a hellish two weeks. He couldn’t eat. He couldn’t sleep. The pills helped but Minseok always woke up groggy. He wanted to know what was going on. But he was also under Junmyeon’s strict orders not to talk to anyone and leave his place.  
  
 _“I’m sorry.”_  Luhan was stroking his face and his touch was light and feathery. He was brushing the hair out of his eyes so he can look at him better. Minseok remembered how it felt like to see him again after two long weeks of pretending he was dead. It was like waking up from a never ending nightmare. He knew he was alive but without any proof, without having to hold him and see him, it was hard to believe. Some days it even felt real.  
  
 _“You’re alive,”_  Minseok breathed and Luhan’s touch was no longer light when he pulled him gruffly into his arms. Minseok clutched at him tight, just breathing him in at first until he feels Luhan’s heartbeat and the small tremors going through him.  
  
 _“I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t want them to get you too. I’m so sorry, Minseok.”_  
  
Luhan sobbed in his embrace and Minseok didn’t dare let go of him.  
  
 _“Don’t do that again,”_  Minseok told him as he cupped his face in his hands and kissed away his tears.  
  
 _“I won’t.”_  Luhan had promised.  
  
 _“Don’t die on me.”_  
  
“Never.”  
  
Minseok clutches at the headboard as Luhan fucks him fast. The sharp thrusts, the sound of his labored breathing and the way he slides into him balls deep is pushing Minseok right off the edge. He feels Luhan’s hands wrap around his cock, moving and pumping him until he’s falling, coming with a soft cry in the pillows and Luhan’s name on his lips.  
  
It’s Luhan who falls asleep first when they’re both finished. Minseok holds him in his arms for a few minutes and just stared at the ceiling. He leaves the bed to clean himself up when the stickiness starts getting uncomfortable and itchy. He wipes away the cum on Luhan’s hands, all the while just staring at his sleeping face.  
  
He can’t resign now. No matter how much he knows Luhan wants him to. Not when they’re being hounded. They can get by on their own. They could run and escape from everything. But Minseok can’t do that forever. And he can’t leave Junmyeon now that he knows they’re after him too.  
  
Whoever’s after them, Minseok swears he’ll get to them before they can get to him.


	12. Chapter 12

“Have you ever liked a guy?”  
  
Baekhyun looks at Jongdae expecting a decent answer to his question but he’s only met with the latter choking on his noodles and getting bits of beef and broth in his face.  
  
“Oh, hey man, that’s gross,” Baekhyun wrinkles his nose as he starts handing Jongdae some tissues. Jongdae continues to cough, half glaring and half grimacing at him.  
  
“Well don’t ask me that question out of nowhere,” Jongdae says when he finally manages to find his voice.  
  
It might have come from nowhere for Jongdae but for Baekhyun, it was all he could think about in the last two weeks.  
  
Baekhyun blames the fair. Well, not really. It could’ve been the weeks before the fair. Baekhyun’s not so sure. But it’s the fair and with Kyungsoo pinning him against the wall with his face so close to his in the dark that has Baekhyun think of it as the day that started it all. Although if truth be told, the weeks before that and the days he got to spend with Kyungsoo are probably part of it as well.  
  
Baekhyun and Jongdae are both stuck at the office. They’re in one of their slow weeks where nothing much is happening. He came in thinking he can get Chanyeol and Jongdae to go to lunch with him since it was only the three of them around. But Chanyeol ditched them in favor of asking Yixing out to lunch when the in-house doctor arrived just to get some of his stuff. Baekhyun had called out how he wanted to come but Jongdae kicked him under the table before he can even ask them completely. When they left, Baekhyun opened his mouth to ask him what that was all about when Jongdae beat him to it and tells him not to even start with that.  
  
With what’s happening recently, with them being tailed, Junmyeon had ordered everyone to spend as much of their time as possible at the office. It was their safehouse. They’ve cleaned their homes and found nothing. Junmyeon thinks they’re all safe for now and that they have the upperhand. They’re to use it to their advantage and he’s sent Sehun and Jongin to do the job of finding out who these people were. But for now, anyone else who doesn’t have any mission is to stay indoors.  
  
So they’re stuck there, ordering in noodles and watching some gag show playing in Jongdae’s monitor. Junmyeon was away on a business meeting. Kyungsoo is off on a mission while Minseok was at home. Baekhyun is bored out of his wits and Jongdae was the only person he could bother.  
  
It’s also one of the reasons why Baekhyun asked him this. He was bored and he wanted to get it out of his system.  
  
“So,” Baekhyun continues. “Have you? Ever liked a guy?”  
  
Jongdae looks at him, a strange vulnerable expression on his face.  
  
“Am I that obvious?”  
  
Baekhyun’s eyes widen at that.  
  
“What? I was just asking randomly about preferences. But now that I’m seeing your reaction, who is it? Tell me!”  
  
Baekhyun nudges his friend, interested now at Jongdae’s story. Jongdae only scowls at him and moves his chair away from his poking.  
  
“No one,” Jongdae replies. There’s a tint of red on his cheeks now, probably embarrassed that he gave something away. Baekhyun doesn’t think it’s no one. But then he’s not about to push him some more when it’s obvious Jongdae looks uncomfortable now. He’ll wait for him to tell him some day.  
  
“Why did you ask then?” Jongdae raises an eye at him. “Who’s the unlucky guy that has Byun Baekhyun’s affections?”  
  
Baekhyun picks up the stuffed giraffe on Chanyeol’s desk that he got for him at the fair and chucks it at Jongdae. Jongdae laughs, catching it in one hand while balancing his food in the other.  
  
“I’m kidding!”  
  
Baekhyun sticks his tongue out at him and then proceeds to eat his noodles. He’s glad to see that Jongdae’s back to his playful self. He was worried he had pressed into a very serious matter.  
  
“It’s Kyungsoo, isn’t it?”  
  
Baekhyun looks up from his bowl at his words and finds Jongdae looking at him with a grin on his face.  
  
“Am  _I_  that obvious?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Baekhyun groans, swallowing a mouthful of noodles and Jongdae looks at him all grossed out at his cheeks filled with food.  
  
“What are you groaning about?”  
  
“It’s Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun whines, staring at his almost empty bowl.  
  
“So? What is the problem? You make it sound like that’s such a problem.” Jongdae says.  
  
It is a problem. Baekhyun has never thought that liking Kyungsoo would feel this disheartening.  
  
“Obviously I’d like to have a chance,” Baekhyun starts. “But he's Kyungsoo. He doesn't look like he's capable of liking anyone back.”  
  
Jongdae laughs at that. “Sure he does! He likes Jongin. And Minseok hyung. Kyungsoo likes everyone. Even you.”  
  
This has Baekhyun sit upright in his seat. He then rolls his chair so close to Jongdae that it bumps against his, causing his friend to roll further away from him. Baekhyun manages to reach the handle of his chair though and pulls him back.  
  
“Has he said anything?” Baekhyun asks in a hushed tone.  
  
“Baekhyun, he doesn’t have to say anything.” Jongdae rolls his eyes at him. “The fact that he hangs out with you is enough of a reason. What?”  
  
Baekhyun is looking at him sheepishly. “He doesn’t hang out with me. I hang out with him.”  
  
It was true. Not once has Kyungsoo barged into his place the way Baekhyun barged into his. Kyungsoo has never dragged Baekhyun to breakfasts and fairs or sleeps in his couch. It’s always Baekhyun crashing at his place in such odd hours and taking him around everywhere.  
  
“Look,” Jongdae starts, placing his own empty bowl on his desk. “Kyungsoo’s not really the most outgoing person among all of us but I’m sure he likes you. He doesn’t have to say anything, really. Anyone who can hang out with Kyungsoo without him pushing anyone away has got to mean that he likes the company.”  
  
“But how do I know that for sure?” Baekhyun leans into him again.  
  
“Duh, ask!”  
  
Ask.  
  
Baekhyun has never felt like asking something was such a complicated thing in his entire life until now.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
Asking Kyungsoo what he thinks about him was easier said than done. It was easier to imagine how it would go when he’ll finally chalk up the courage to ask him that. But to do so seemed so nerve-wracking that Baekhyun is left with an unpleasant stomach ache from thinking of the outcome.  
  
No harm can come from asking, Baekhyun supposes as he climbs through the broken fences to Kyungsoo’s place. If Kyungsoo likes him then that’s great. But if he doesn’t, so what? It’s not like Baekhyun is going to die from it or something.  
  
And it’s not like he has to ask now. He can wait a few more weeks. Or months. Years even. Baekhyun groans internally at the lack of confidence he has in himself.  
  
It takes Kyungsoo a long while to answer the door when Baekhyun knocks. Baekhyun sees him treating a cut on his hand when he welcomes him in and Baekhyun assumes that’s what took him so long.  
  
“From today?” Baekhyun asks, taking off his shoes and following Kyungsoo to his living room where he has some disinfectant and a bunch of bandages littered on the table.  
  
Kyungsoo nods, sitting back down on the couch. He’s wearing a pair of comfortable looking sweatpants and a sweater. “Some guy had extremely sharp teeth.”  
  
Baekhyun has seen Kyungsoo punch someone. For a small guy, people always underestimate his strength. But Kyungsoo’s tough, making most of his missions where he has to fight off large people seem like a joke on their end.  
  
There’s a crease on Kyungsoo’s brow when he applies the disinfectant on himself. He’s tending to his cut with one hand making it look so awkward that Baekhyun offers to do it for him.  
  
Kyungsoo’s hands are rough. He has a few faded scars from the many missions he’s taken and Baekhyun eyes them for a while before getting to work. He looks at his small palm, then his small fingers to the vein in his arm disappearing under the sleeves of his sweater that’s rucked up to his elbows. Baekhyun rests his hand, the one with the cut on it, atop his thigh as he picks up a swab and applies disinfectant on the cut gently.  
  
“Is something wrong?”  
  
Baekhyun looks up at Kyungsoo at that. His eyes are boring into his that Baekhyun blinks away and settles on a spot on his cheek to look at. He remembers that time at the fair where Kyungsoo was so close to him and he swallows that memory down before it settles in his stomach again.  
  
“Nothing. Why?” Baekhyun ducks down to blow on his cut, a thing that he’s used to doing when he wants the disinfectant to dry faster.  
  
“You’re usually loud and noisy.” Kyungsoo replies.  
  
Baekhyun gives a small laugh. “Yeah, well, I can be quiet too sometimes.”  
  
Kyungsoo snorts.  
  
“What?” Baekhyun asks, eyes still on his cut as he finally tears open the bandage wrapper.  
  
“You’re never quiet. You’re just quiet when you’re too busy thinking.”  
  
It’s crazy when they’ve only known each other for a few months and yet Kyungsoo knows this much about him. It’s crazy and a bit endearing but it’s also making the ache in Baekhyun’s stomach intensify.  
  
 _Ask._  Jongdae’s words echo in his head and Baekhyun, despite the churning inside his stomach, feels a little bold at that moment.  
  
“Aren’t you going to ask about what?” Baekhyun prompts, tugging Kyungsoo’s hand so it’s higher on his thigh and he can apply the bandage to him better.  
  
“I don’t want to know.” Kyungsoo says. Baekhyun knows he’s just playing with him. Jongdae was right about Kyungsoo not really being the most outgoing person among all of them. He isn’t someone who speaks his mind either. But there are times Baekhyun can tell that he wants to say or know things and Baekhyun ends up telling him all about it or pushes him to talk even if he doesn’t ask.  
  
That’s another thing adding to the nerves inside Baekhyun’s stomach. How much they both know each other’s small habits in such a short time.  
  
“Oh come on, ask me.” Baekhyun pushes. He has no idea where this sudden nerve to deal with this is coming from. Maybe because it’s just the two of them so it’s less embarrassing. Maybe because he’s felt something and seen some signs from Kyungsoo that he might like him too. Maybe because Kyungsoo is injured so if he laughs at Baekhyun’s confession, Baekhyun can just use that against him. Tear his bandage out or whatever.  
  
Maybe it’s because Baekhyun doesn’t want to wait a few more weeks or months or even years to ask him about this.  
  
“This is going to be a long discussion isn’t it,” Kyungsoo says and Baekhyun whines at his teasings.  
  
“Just ask me.”  
  
“Fine,” Kyungsoo gives in. “What are you thinking about?”  
  
Baekhyun places the bandage on Kyungsoo’s cut and smoothens it out gently.  
  
“I'm thinking whether I should ask you how you feel about me. Because I kind of feel a lot of stuff about you.”  
  
“What stuff?” Kyungsoo asks.  
  
Baekhyun swallows down the apprehension in his voice. “Just, you know. Stuff. Like, just about you. And how I kind of... Like you.”  
  
Baekhyun hasn’t heard silence so loud before. It’s deafening. He wishes that a boat from the harbor nearby would crash into the port so that he can at least hear something other than this kind of silence.  
  
Kyungsoo’s hand on his thigh suddenly feels so heavy. Baekhyun knows Kyungsoo understood what he just meant. Kyungsoo’s smart. He’d know what Baekhyun just told him.  
  
“If I've lead you on…” Kyungsoo finally says.  
  
Baekhyun shakes his head at that. “No, no. That’s not it. You've done exactly the opposite of leading me on.” Baekhyun pauses to swallow. “I like you. And I wanted to know if you… You know… Too.”  
  
Baekhyun dares to look at Kyungsoo and he sees him looking at his hand still resting on his thigh. As if realizing this, Kyungsoo slowly moves his hand away from him, a gesture that tugs on Baekhyun’s chest a little painfully.  
  
“I’m being too upfront about it, aren’t I.” Baekhyun says.  
  
This has Kyungsoo finally move, shaking his head.  
  
“No, no. This is better actually.”  
  
Better? Baekhyun continues to look at him, wondering what he meant by that when Kyungsoo finally raises his head to meet his eyes. His heart sinks before Kyungsoo can even say anything. The look in his eyes gave his answer away.  
  
“No,” He says softly. “I don’t like you the way you like me.”  
  
His heart may have sank. But it didn’t crash against his chest and made such a dramatic drop that Baekhyun was expecting. His stomach may have hurt when he was thinking about the different scenarios Kyungsoo’s acceptance or rejection would bring. But right now, it oddly felt pleasantly calm. Sure it hurt. Rejection hurt. But the way Kyungsoo said it, frank and open just like how they’ve always been with each other, made his stomach feel a bit better.  
  
He can’t deny it surprised him though. He always thought that maybe Kyungsoo liked him just a little bit. The way he looks at him sometimes. The way his hand lingers on his shoulder. The way he looks after him, snorts at his jokes and glares at him. He always thought those were enough of a reason for him to bank on the idea that maybe Kyungsoo felt the same way.  
  
It turns out he was wrong.  
  
“Well, at least that’s out in the open.” Baekhyun remarks, letting his tone come out light and perky now.  
  
“Baekhyun, I'm sorry.”  
  
Baekhyun waves him off, smiling at him when Kyungsoo meets his eyes again.  
  
“No, don’t be. Like you said, this is better. Us being very honest with this.”  
  
It is better.  _Right?_  
  
“It is,” Kyungsoo answers as if he heard his thoughts. “It is better.”  
  
Baekhyun doesn’t know why he sounded like that. It sounded like he was reassuring himself rather than Baekhyun who just confessed.  
  
But it is though. It is better. Now he knows how Kyungsoo feels without waiting any longer and he doesn’t have to be so delusional anymore.  
  
“Well,” Baekhyun stands. “I’m heading home.”  
  
Kyungsoo sees him to the door after Baekhyun helps him clear the mess on his table. Kyungsoo follows after him silently and Baekhyun, noticing how uncomfortably silent he is rather than his usual quiet self, turns around to face him.  
  
“Hey,”  
  
Kyungsoo looks at him.  
  
“I don’t want things to change.”  
  
He’d hate for that to happen. This friendship he has with Kyungsoo is something he’d like to keep and he’ll forever blame himself if his confession changed everything.  
  
“Oh, it won’t?” Kyungsoo blinks back at him. “I was hoping it would get you to quiet around here.”  
  
Baekhyun sticks his tongue out at him and turns around to hide his smile. Kyungsoo’s back to his usual mean self again whenever he’s around him and it makes the ache in his chest from the rejection lighten up a little.  
  
A hand on his arm has him stop and he looks over his shoulder at Kyungsoo.  
  
“No,” Kyungsoo says. “Nothing’s going to change.”  
  
That sounded like a promise and the air around them feels light again when he breathes.  
  
Taking his promise, Baekhyun smiles back at him and turns around to leave.


	13. Chapter 13

At five years old, Chanyeol recognizes what being scared meant. It meant staying in the dark with just his favorite ferret plushie in one hand, while his other grabbed at the sheets tight and continued to wish that it was morning already.  
  
He doesn’t last the night though. His mother and father talked to him about having to move to his own room because his older sister, Yura, moved into her own room when she was four and it was about time Chanyeol learned to sleep alone. He hadn’t wanted to disappoint his parents and Yura, so he gave it a shot. He lasted for a total of an hour before he ran back to his parents' room, shaking and blubbering about how the night light wasn’t enough and that he swears there was something under his bed.

There wasn’t anything there. But his mother and father didn’t say anything about it and let him sleep in between them like always. Chanyeol learned to sleep in his own room alone when he reaches seven and it takes six more years after that to get rid of the night light.

At 10, Chanyeol learns what being a sissy meant. It meant being scared by some of his classmates at school who took his lunch and bullied their way into his personal space. It meant just being quiet when the bullies poked fun at him, calling him a _fattie_ and _four-eyes_. It meant rushing home after school and always sitting at the back of the bus and hoping no one else will notice him. It meant choosing to let things be and remain a sissy because standing up for himself doesn’t seem like a good idea.

At 14, Chanyeol gets scared of blood. Blood is scary when it’s everywhere on your shirt and leaving those bright crimson spots on the floor as you look down. Chanyeol had tripped on his legs, his long legs that just seemed to grow longer every year. He no longer had the fat but puberty gave him a lanky build and a funny deep voice in return that the teasings just continued. Chanyeol had fallen flat on his face while he was trying to get to class and passed out at the sight of blood from where he broke his nose. He comes to hours later in the nurse’s office with his sister looking down at him with a relieved sigh and Chanyeol makes her promise not to tell on their parents.

At 18, Chanyeol doesn’t attend prom. He calls in sick and stays in his room and plays video games until Yura drags him out so they can have _dimsum_ and bubble tea and lie on the grass at the park and laugh about how the stars look like chicken’s feet. Chanyeol doesn’t have to talk about how he got dumped last minute by his lab partner for a much cooler guy at the last possible minute and it’s nice that Yura doesn’t ask.

At 19, Chanyeol chooses a major. Information Technology. It’s what he’s good at and soon enough, he’s at the top of his class. He gets into academic competitions and win most of them like the programming and hacking divisions. He still doesn’t have friends because even the guys at his class find him to be an even bigger nerd than they all are. But they don’t bully him about it and he doesn’t mind. College is cool like that.

At 22, just weeks before graduation, Chanyeol is approached by a small guy who looks like a lawyer or an accountant with the way he’s dressed in a suit. He’s handsome and he introduces himself as Kim Junmyeon. He asks him if he’d like to intern and then eventually work at his accounting firm. They needed an IT guy with his talents and the pay is beyond amazing. Chanyeol says yes and proudly tells his parents and Yura all about it.

The accounting firm ends up being a hitman group and Chanyeol nearly faints at everything Junmyeon tells him. He can’t understand why Junmyeon is explaining all this to him with such a huge kind smile on his face and why he chose him, cowardly and awkward Park Chanyeol, for the job.

“We don’t kill people just for the heck of it,” Junmyeon assures him. “But I am really in need of someone like you. Someone funny and nice. Doesn’t have that much of a background in society. Someone who doesn’t bring too much attention.”

Chanyeol wasn’t sure if Junmyeon was being funny and sarcastic since he barely knew him. But he wanted to give it a shot. It was his first job after all and he knew how hard it would be to get a job in the city for someone that’s just fresh out of university. And well, experience was important so he can place it on his resume. Junmyeon assured him he won’t be the one killing people, so that was fine. He also needed the money so he can buy his mom a new dress, a nice wedding gift for Yura and maybe get that TV set he saw his dad secretly eyeing on the home magazine. So he says yes but made Junmyeon promise he and his family won’t get hurt and that they’d know nothing about this.

A week later, he has friends.

Chanyeol is new to people laughing at his jokes even if they’re so cheesy. They laugh at his goof ups and it doesn’t make Chanyeol feel embarrassed. They don’t mind that he’s tall or that he has such a booming voice or that when he smiles it’s like his face is filled with teeth. He has someone to play video games with and share a whole pizza with other than his family. Chanyeol loves his friends and for the first time, he feels comfortable just being himself.

He also gets introduced to a lot of new stuff  –  stuff that he never even thought about. Like it was okay to like guys. Luhan and Minseok was proof enough that it could work. So he doesn’t stop himself from sneaking glances at the in-house doctor. He finds the doctor cute and weird. But more cute that the weird doesn’t matter.

At 24, Chanyeol embarks on a mission because Sehun and Jongin need him with them. He declined so many times because going on a mission was different than just assisting them behind the safety of his monitor screen. But they needed him to hack into a tight and local security network and Chanyeol couldn’t say no when they’re pouting at him.

So he went. It’s inevitable that some things would go wrong. Sehun and Chanyeol are busted from where they’re hiding. Sehun’s gun is wrestled away from him and Chanyeol is left to save his friend who has a knife pressed up his throat. Chanyeol is a klutz but with a strength he doesn’t know he has when adrenaline is coursing through his veins and he’s able to save Sehun, charging at their attacker crazily and managing to wrestle Sehun free. Jongin arrives just in time to kill their assailant and they all go home with Chanyeol wailing in the car how the attacker holding the knife got him.

It’s just a scratch. The blade just grazed him. But it was enough for Chanyeol to remember every little thing that tormented him when he was little. How he was afraid of the dark, how he always hated it when bullies wrestled him and how the sight of blood made him faint. There was no Yura to soothe him and that made everything even scarier even if he did have two of his friends in the front seat trying to calm him down.

It was Yixing who was able to do so. Doctor Zhang Yixing, the cute in-house doctor, the one he harbors a crush on for over two years, who got him out of that car and didn’t mind that Chanyeol was bawling like a baby, clutching at the small cut in his hand. Doctor Zhang Yixing, who told him it was going to be okay and that he’ll fix him right up. Yixing didn’t make fun of him like Chanyeol thought he would when he cleaned his cut gently, applied a bandage on it and told him it’ll get better in a few days. He also scolded Sehun and Jongin for taking Chanyeol with them and not being responsible enough for him.

Chanyeol develops more than just a little crush on the in house doctor after that. He thinks Yixing has the most cutest accent and talks like he’s on high. He thinks Yixing has very cute dimples and likes it a lot when he smiles. Jongdae always rolls his eyes at him whenever Chanyeol beams and oggles at Yixing when he walks past them to get to his clinic. Chanyeol can’t help it. He likes Zhang Yixing a lot.

Chanyeol still doesn’t go on missions but it doesn’t scare him so much whenever he’s needed to go on one. He learns to become a little braver so Yixing doesn’t have to worry about him whenever he comes back. Because a worried Yixing troubles Chanyeol and he doesn’t want to add to the burden the doctor feels whenever Kyungsoo or Minseok comes back with cuts or gunshot wounds. He learns how to hold a gun and fire them properly so he can protect himself and his friends and family. He also learns that it’s nice to take care of someone in return like making sure Yixing eats and gets enough rest.

At 25, Chanyeol falls in love for the first time and he’s all sorts of scared, shy and nervous all over again but this time, the doctor with the cute accent and dimples make it everything worth braving for.


	14. Chapter 14

There are things Sehun cares about that not a lot of people know. Like his video games and his Star Wars merchandise collection and the amount of embarrassing Chanyeol photos on his phone. They tend to judge him by the look on his face, how stoic and smug he seems and how he looks like he doesn’t really care about anything else aside from himself. While that was mostly true at one point in his life, Sehun would like to think that his friends would at least think he has changed and cares about Jongin more than anything else in the world. Like now. How he cares enough about his boyfriend’s safety that he’d opted to be his bodyguard for this mission.

“Partner,” Jongin corrects him, his voice crisp and clear in Sehun’s earpiece. “The term is partner, Sehun.”

Sure. Partner. He and Jongin may be partners in every mission but in this particular mission, Sehun is his bodyguard.

Junmyeon has sent them both on a mission to follow whoever is following them. Sehun and Jongin were the perfect candidates for this mission since no one knew who they were. Their identities weren’t widely known underground yet so it was safe to use them for now.

Junmyeon made false leads and had Baekhyun and Minseok spread them around hoping someone would take the bait. They’re going to let themselves be followed. Because by now, almost all of them are sure they’re being tailed. Well, except for Jongin and Sehun. They’re going to throw themselves in this cat and mouse chase.

Between Jongin and Sehun, one was to be the bait. Junmyeon chose Jongin. He was good in combat that if their perpetrator ever got too close, Jongin can easily handle them. Sehun would be his lookout partner, watching Jongin’s back and making sure no harm comes to him. He has good aim and he’s an expert shooter so that wouldn’t be a problem. But as much as Sehun liked his role, he also wanted to be the bait rather than risk Jongin. Jongin threw him a look, however; one that said,  _ ‘don’t even think about it’  _ because he knew his boyfriend was overprotective, and they were trying to be professionals on the job here. So Sehun dropped it and that was that.

Someone had instantly followed him when he emerged from a small bakery where they planted the lead. Little did their target know that Sehun was watching Jongin the whole time, communicating to him through their slim and barely visible communication device, a new tech from Chanyeol he proudly designed himself, with Sehun directing him where to go.

“How long do we have to do this?” Sehun asks as he speaks silently through his mouthpiece. He’s getting antsy. Jongin strolled around since this morning and their target just followed him everywhere. Every minute that ticked by was making Sehun’s skin prickle. He wants this day to be over with so Jongin can stop doing this and Sehun doesn’t just have to watch.

“Just long enough for us to corner him somewhere,” Jongin replies, voice so smooth and calm.

“And how long is that going to take? I can just take a shot at him right now.” Sehun brushes his hand over his coat where he can feel his gun. His sniper is casually hidden in a guitar case and slung across his back. He could take their target out quick. He’ll just have to let Jongin lead him somewhere empty and they’re done.

“Be patient, Sehun.” Jongin sighs. “We’re on strict orders not to take him down. You know, this is why you can’t be the bait. You’re too impatient.”

Sehun huffs. Jongin is right. Junmyeon only told them to gather as much information as they can without giving themselves away. No deaths.

“I should be offended right now,” Jongin says. “You have no trust in me.”

“Of course I do. The guy behind you is the one I don’t trust.”

“I won’t let him get too close.”

Sehun moves so he can watch Jongin and their target more closely. Their target is tall with the same height as theirs. He’s also buff, judging from his size. Sehun knows Jongin can match his strength if it goes down to a fight. But it’s obvious it’ll be a challenge.

It goes on like that for a few more hours: just a silent game of cat, mouse and, well, dog. By nightfall, Sehun tells him to take a left. There’s an open bar at the end of the street. Jongin’s going to chill, sit, order a drink and wait for their assailant to do whatever it is he was tasked to do. Because surely they weren’t hired to just tail them around all day.

The open bar makes it easier for Sehun to keep track of things from across the street where he hides behind a narrow alleyway. Jongin is over by the bar, sitting on the far end. The lights around his area are dim, that their target would have to get a closer look to see his face. And by close, he’d have to be sitting right next to Jongin to be able to look at him fully. Which is the plan: to have him close, close enough that Jongin can get a strand of hair just for a DNA sample and Chanyeol can run it through the database.

Sehun sits atop an empty trash container as Jongin orders. Their target is already in the bar with them. It’s happy hour for most of the patrons in this establishment so it’s busy. Their target should be wise enough not to cause trouble and blow this mission up.

Sehun keeps his eyes on their target when he stands.

“Target’s on the move,” Sehun speaks softly. “He’s coming to you.”

Their target slips next to Jongin’s seat. Sehun doesn’t like that they’re sitting too close. He has his sniper out now and using the scope to observe everything and keeping a closer eye on Jongin. He trusts this is a safe place. The bartender is in front of Jongin, cleaning glasses. There are too many people, too many witnesses, for this to turn into a fight.

“This is probably the easiest mission I’ve ever had.”

Sehun is surprised when he hears their target speak. Their target has a soft fluid voice. What they presumed was a  _ he  _ turned out to be a  _ she _ .

“This can’t be right,” Sehun says to Jongin. But then he realizes he shouldn’t have judged and taken a closer look beforehand.

Jongin dares to look at her by turning his face slightly to the side. Sehun hands it to Jongin for being a good actor.

The woman takes off the cap and coat she’s wearing. That gave off the buff exterior. She’s strikingly beautiful even from afar. Seductive even in the dim light. Sehun isn’t surprised. The women in the hitmen business were always beautiful.

“Why don’t you finish the job then?” Jongin says, smiling at her.

“That’s why I’m here. To get a closer look before I get things done.” She says coyly. The women in the hitmen business were also equally flirts.

Sehun watches as Jongin casually takes a sip of his drink. “So, what were you saying about this being the easiest mission you’ve ever dealt with?”

The bartender moves over to the far end of the counter after serving the woman her drink, leaving them both alone. Sehun eyes the exits just in case they need one later.

“Did you know that there’s a price on your head?” The woman starts slowly, swirling her drink. “A beautiful hefty price.”

“Really.” Jongin presses. “And why is that?”

“Because you’re EXO. You’re Junmyeon’s.” She says with a pleased smile on her face. “And I can’t believe I’m sitting right next to one of his men.”

Jongin flashes her a smile. “How can you be sure?”

Sehun sees the woman falter at that and tries his best not to smirk. He’s sure his and Jongin’s records are very well hidden. No one knows who they are. No one knows who they work for. Chanyeol was good at safekeeping their identities from the world. He even made those false leads disappear the moment they knew that someone took the bait and followed Jongin. The only ones who’s ever had the chance to see them were their past targets and they’re all dead.

“What do you play me for.” The woman laughs quietly. “Surely a man like you works for Junmyeon. EXO are all such pretty boys.”

“Flirt back.” Sehun says to Jongin. “Get her to spill who she’s working for.”

Jongin angles himself so he’s completely facing the woman.

“I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m not EXO.”

The woman raises her eye at that. “Liar.”

Jongin grins. One of Sehun’s favorite grin. “Not all pretty boys are in EXO.”

“You a private firm then?” She teases.

“You’re not the only one asked to tail after those boys.”

This gets her to stop and quiet down. She’s looking at Jongin, trying to see if he’s lying. Jongin holds her gaze, knowing full well she has no proof that he works for Junmyeon.

“Words out that everyone’s after EXO.” Jongin continues, playing along. “Whoever gets to them first, gets the prize.”

They both don’t know that. They know nothing about who’s after them. But Jongin’s remark and the woman’s unfazed reaction confirm their suspicion. That there are a lot of people after them. It’s not just one organization which they both suspected. There really is a bounty on their heads and it’s not only Junmyeon’s.

“If you’re not one of them and you’re on the lookout for those boys, then why are you here?” She asks.

Jongin chuckles. “I don’t work like you. I don’t tail after someone I’m not even sure is my target.”

This seems to infuriate the woman.

“Hey,” Sehun says to him. “You’re supposed to win her over not piss her off.”

“But I have to say,” Jongin continues. “You’re doing a great job. A lot of people have come after me over the week. You’re the only one that’s brave enough to actually check if they got the right person.”

The woman taps her nails on the glass. Sehun can hear the sound of it in his earpiece.

“Alright,” She finally says, crossing her long legs. She’s wearing combat boots rather than heels, something Sehun mistook earlier for a man’s pair of shoes. “How much money were you offered then?”

“Can’t tell you that. Unless you tell me who you’re working for.”

The woman laughs. “Now why would I tell you that?”

Jongin shrugs. “Oh, you know us private firms. We want to know who we’re competing against. Business is business.”

The woman smirks. “Fine. Maybe I’ll tell you. For a price.”

Sehun watches as the woman slides a hand down Jongin’s arm. He frowns, knowing full well what she meant. Jongin has to continue playing her around if they want to know more about this. Sehun wouldn’t like it. But this is work.

“Touch her back.” Sehun says. Jongin seems hesitant at first but then leans towards the woman who smiles. Jongin brushes a strand of hair away from her face. Sehun hopes he got some of that to keep.

“Alright. Name it.” Jongin says, voice coming out husky that’s making Sehun’s jaw tighten.

“I will. In a little while. I want to get to know you first.” The woman smiles, tapping her fingers on the table as she looks at Jongin. “I have to say, I’ve been in the business for quite some time and I haven’t seen you around.”

Jongin gives a small laugh. “Isn’t that the point of working in this industry? Hidden Identities and all that.”

“True. But sometimes there are mishaps. Paths are crossed. Informations are leaked.”

“Is that how you found me? From some leaked information?”

The woman just smiles as she takes another sip of her drink. Sehun rolls his eyes at that.

“Change the subject.” Sehun instructs.

“You still havent told me who you’re working for.” Jongin says.

“Is that still important?” She teases.

“It is. Do they pay well?”

She laughs, leaning back in her seat. “Very well. Why? You don’t look like you’re short for cash.”

“Scoot closer.” Sehun says. “She doesn’t look like she’s interested anymore.”

“I might apply. Just so I can see you again.” Jongin inches closer, and laces his fingers with hers. The woman seems to like that move very much as she cocks her head to the side, looking at Jongin dreamily. Sehun feels a flash of irritation at that. He can just shoot her right now if he wants.

“Yeah? We do need pretty boys.”

Jongin  _ is  _ a pretty boy, and Sehun can’t blame this woman for falling for his boyfriend’s face.

“Let’s see. I still like who I’m working for. The benefits are great.” Jongin continues. “Yours?”

She pulls her hair to one side so it falls across her neck. “Mine has our backs all the time. But you know it’s SM who’s calling the shots.”

“Got it.” Sehun says, already packing back his sniper. “We got the name. We’re done now.”

Jongin fishes out money from his pocket and pays both of their drinks.

“I’d like to sit here and chat some more but I have a meeting with my boss. I don’t want to be late.” Jongin slips off the bar but the woman places a hand on his wrist to keep him from leaving. Sehun grabs his gun so fast and cocks it, aiming it at the woman. He has no time to unpack his sniper again but he’s not going to risk Jongin’s safety. At this distance with a handheld gun, his shots wouldn’t penetrate his target. But he’ll take his chances. If the worst happens, he’ll get there himself, grab Jongin and shoot her. Screw being seen. Junmyeon will understand.

“Thanks for the drinks but that’s not exactly the kind of payment I was hoping for such information.” She says, still with that annoying flirting tone in her voice.

Jongin smiles and sits back down. “What do you want then?”

“Well, a kiss doesn’t seem so expensive.”

Sehun’s hold on his gun tightens.

“And if I don’t give it to you?” Jongin asks calmly.

“I’ll follow you back to your boss.” She replies. “Just to make sure your story clears.”

Jongin chuckles. “Whether or not I kiss you tonight, you and I both know you’re still going to follow me.”

She shrugs. “You never know. I might change my mind. Depends on the kiss, really.”

It's obvious this woman is no longer interested at Jongin being Junmyeon's man but rather because she stumbled on a pretty boy. But Sehun doesn't trust anyone apart from Junmyeon's men. He knows she'll follow him the minute they leave.

Jongin will just have to convince her not to.

“Kiss her.” Sehun let’s out the air he’s holding.

Jongin doesn’t move.

“Kiss her really good.” Sehun says. “Kiss her like you kiss me.”

Jongin hesitates once more until he blinks and smiles. “Alright then.”

Sehun doesn’t know which person he said that to. It doesn’t really matter though because Jongin is already moving, already leaning towards her, cupping the woman’s cheek and kissing her.

It works. Sehun watches Jongin’s lips mold against the woman’s own. He can hear her sigh from his earpiece. Jongin’s thumb swipes softy across her cheek, coaxing her to respond to his kiss which she does so wantonly. She presses up into his space and Jongin doesn’t pull back. Sehun has to look away when he sees Jongin’s tongue taste her. He doesn’t want to know whether the woman tasted him back. He silently counts to three before returning his gaze to them and he breathes a sigh of relief when they’re done.

The woman has her eyes closed, still savoring the moment. When she opens them, they’re dreamy and filled with want for Jongin. Sehun coughs in his earpiece and Jongin stands.

“I’ll know you’ll still follow me.” Jongin says.

“Hmmm, i’m tempted to. But not tonight. That was a really good kiss. Maybe when I see you next time, we can do a little bit… more.” She replies, grinning and turning to the bar to order another drink.

“That is if you can still find me.” Jongin says before leaving.

“Oh I will.” She says. “I’ll find you.”

Sehun pockets his gun and tells Jongin to get out of there.

They both meet a block down the road when Sehun is sure the woman didn’t follow them. Jongin doesn’t speak to him when he sees him and neither does Sehun. They continue to walk back to their car, pretending not to know each other, get in, and drive back to the office.

“You alright?” Sehun asks the moment they’re alone and he’s backing out of the parking lot.

“I’m not sure yet.” Jongin only replies.

Sehun leaves it at that and tries not to pry even if he’s itching to. He drives carefully, watching the rear-view mirror from time to time to see if they’re being followed. But they’re safe and Sehun only gets to relax when they arrive outside the office.

They report to Junmyeon what they found. Sehun does the reporting while Jongin sits quietly beside him. Sehun leaves out the part on just how Jongin obtained the information. Junmyeon doesn’t need to know that.

“SM, huh…” Junmyeon looks deep in thought by that.

“Does it mean anything?” Sehun asks.

“Yeah. Just an old name.”

Sehun wonders what that means.

“Should we be worried?” He asks.

Junmyeon shakes his head and smiles. “No. Not for now. But I still need both of you to be careful.”

Jongin hands Junmyeon a strand of hair he was able to collect from the woman earlier. Junmyeon dismisses them afterwards. They turn in their weapons to Jongdae, save for their personal firearms, and both Sehun and Jongin head back to the car to head home.

Jongin still hasn’t spoken anything during the ride home. Sehun concentrates on driving instead even though worry fills his thoughts. They head to Jongin’s apartment where Sehun has been living in and out for the past couple of weeks. Jongin’s dogs greet them, barking excitedly at their arrival. Sehun is relieved to find the tension slightly easing off Jongin’s shoulders as he pets them one by one.

“Hey,” Sehun starts as soon as the doors are closed and the locks are set. Jongin turns to him where he’s leaning against the door. Nothing about his expression give anything away for Sehun to know what he feels at the moment.

“You’re starting to scare me.” Sehun says honestly.

Jongin turns his attention back to one of his dogs. Sehun waits, the seconds ticking by so slowly before Jongin finally says, “Shower with me.”

Sehun follows him. They both strip and get in the shower silently. The sound of the water is the only thing filling his ears. Jongin has his back to him, soaping himself, his back muscles moving as he lathers every inch of him. Sehun takes the bar from him afterwards so he can soap what’s left of his back he can’t reach.

“I’m sorry.” Sehun says. He can’t take the silence anymore. “The things I made you did earlier. I wasn’t thinking straight. I was worried for you. All I could think about was you getting that information we needed and getting out of there quick. I wasn’t thinking about what she would do to you. What she would ask. I didn’t think she’d-”

Jongin turns around and the next thing Sehun knows Jongin is kissing him. Softly. Gently. Not like how he usually kisses him. Not the frantic ones where it’s filled with lust and need. He’s kissing him slow and tenderly, just lips brushing against his. Sehun kisses him back the same way as if Jongin is glass. He kisses him softly as if he’ll break if he goes any harder than that.

Their kiss stills. There’s a moment where its just their lips softly grazing each other. Jongin has his arms around his waist and Sehun revels in his touch.

Jongin is warm and Sehun knows that has nothing to do with the temperature of the water. Jongin has always been like that. That’s why Sehun is attracted to him. He reminds him of the sun. So bright and warm. And for Sehun to see his sun go through something like that earlier, forced to do something he doesn’t want to do but for the sake of the job, infuriates him.

And the worst part was that Sehun made him do it.

Jongin pulls away. Sehun opens his eyes and looks at how handsome Jongin is with the tips of his hair wet from the spray of the water.

“I did it because I wanted to.” He begins. “I wasn’t forced into doing anything.”

Sehun is relieved by that. He nods and Jongin cups his face in his hand so he can look at him.

“Did you doubt me? Even for just a second?” He asks.

“No.” Sehun answers at once. “But I was so  _ so _ jealous.” He admits.

Jongin gives a small chuckle at that. The sight makes Sehun smile.

“You didn’t have to be.”

Sehun sighs, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Jongin’s.

“I know.”

They stay like that under the water, Jongin’s arms still around his waist while Sehun has his arms around his neck. They sway to no tune in particular. Just the sound of their hearts beating together.

“We’re going to do things we might not like in this job.” Jongin says a few minutes later. That makes Sehun frown but he knows what Jongin meant.

Sehun pulls back just to look at him. It’s his turn to cup his face in his hands and Jongin closes his eyes for a moment at that. Sehun swears he’ll do anything to protect him.

“The moment you’re uncomfortable enough, tell me. I’ll get you out of there. I swear on that.” Sehun promises.

Jongin opens his eyes and smiles at him.

“That goes both ways.”

Sehun kisses him then and he makes sure it’s better than any kiss Jongin has ever had.


	15. Chapter 15

Baekhyun thought pretending would be a breeze. 

It’s been a month since he’s been let down and he never really thought it would affect things. He still goes on missions. Kyungsoo’s still there picking up after him, criticizing his lack of finesse when it comes to dealing with his targets. It’s nothing new. Baekhyun whines like always. It’s as if that night, the one when Baekhyun confessed to him, didn’t happen. It’s like nothing has changed.

If anything else, Kyungsoo has been picking on him more. Kyungsoo points out every little thing Baekhyun does wrong more than usual. He points out how Baekhyun moves too fast that it compromises the accuracy of his shots. How Baekhyun doesn’t seem to know how to use a smoke bomb the right way, always risking his vision when he detonates it at the last minute. How Baekhyun is _ so loud  _ that he might as well just announce his arrival. How Baekhyun always mixes up his right and his left, getting his coordinates wrong.

And if it isn’t about work, Kyungsoo picks on his lifestyle. The lack of nutrition in his meals. His sleeping habits. His hair. His hygiene.

There’s also the small treats when he drops by Kyungsoo’s place. There’s always warm homemade snacks, and his couch is always comfortable and inviting that Baekhyun always can’t help but sleep over. Kyungsoo is an amazing host in his own quiet way. Baekhyun tries to convince himself it’s the food that makes him stay most of the time.

“It’s like Christmas and I’m Santa.” Baekhyun once exclaimed when he found cookies the moment he stepped foot inside Kyungsoo’s apartment. Kyungsoo just gave a scoff at that.

Now the treats have become full blown meals and Baekhyun loves having lunch or dinner at his place. But that only makes him wonder what they all mean. 

So Baekhyun is confused because, well, he likes it. He likes the attention. He likes that Kyungsoo notices him even when it’s just the tiniest detail. He likes being friends with Kyungsoo. Even if the guy is silent and reserved most of the time and completely made it clear that he doesn’t return his affections, Baekhyun doesn’t mind. 

It just makes pretending very difficult to do. There’s an ache in his chest sometimes when Baekhyun thinks too much of it when he shouldn’t. And it’s not like Kyungsoo is pushing him away. Kyungsoo welcomes him into his space anyway. A space Baekhyun would’ve wanted to be a little more closer. But having what they have right now is fine.

It’s better than to have no space to crawl into anymore.

 

* * *

 

“You’re torturing yourself.” Chanyeol says to him one day. 

Chanyeol knows what’s going on because he walked in on him and Jongdae talking about it. The guy never knocks and now he’s weaseled the whole story out of Baekhyun because he gets all hurt when he’s not in on the latest office gossip. Likewise, Baekhyun has demanded dirt on Chanyeol and found out he likes the in-house doctor. Jongdae told him that Chanyeol wouldn’t even care if anyone knew. “Maybe Yixing will finally take a hint when it reaches him,” Jongdae once said.

Baekhyun twirls his seat before giving Chanyeol a reply. “No, not really. I'm faring quite fine.”

“Oh please. You look absolutely heartbroken.” Jongdae says dramatically. Baekhyun rolls his eyes at him. 

“I am not.”

“I still can’t believe Kyungsoo said that, though.” Jongdae looks genuinely confused and Baekhyun sags in his seat.

“Maybe he really doesn’t like Baekhyun back the way Baekhyun likes him,” Chanyeol offers. “I mean, it’s Kyungsoo. Have you seen Kyungsoo being all gooey and professing his like for either one of us? Nuh-uh.”

“Well, I actually thought for awhile he changed. Like, maybe Baekhyun made a difference. They hang out a lot.” Jongdae points out.

“Guys,” Baekhyun groans. “This conversation isn't helping.”

Chanyeol stretches out his long arms and pulls at Baekhyun’s chair, whirling it around to face him.

“Let’s nurse this broken heart with a few drinks.” Chanyeol then stands up and takes his jacket off the back of his chair. “I need it. Yixing just ditched my offer for a Sunday lunch for another doctor’s convention.” He then scrunches up his face. “Who does conventions during Sundays?”

“Poor you. Did you even make it clear it was a lunch date?” Jongdae asks, picking up his own jacket.

“I said I would help him choose a phone since he was looking to buy one. And then we could grab lunch.”

Jongdae shakes his head.

“So, drinks?” Jongdae looks at Baekhyun. “Chanyeol's buying.”

“I didn't say that.” Chanyeol argues. “But yeah, sure.”

Chanyeol ends up drunk and they make quite a sight with Jongdae and Baekhyun hauling him into his car and Jongdae driving them all home.

 

* * *

 

Some days, Baekhyun likes to think it doesn’t really matter. So what if he has this crush on Kyungsoo. So what if Kyungsoo doesn’t like him back. It’s not really a big deal. He’s spending time with Kyungsoo a lot and that should be enough.

But some days, even if he convinces himself it doesn’t matter, just seeing Kyungsoo pop up during his day makes him feel otherwise. Like today of all days when he just finished his mission and Kyungsoo was just there, standing outside and leaning against the door of his car as if he waited for him all day long. His mission is quite a ways off and Baekhyun had to ride a bus to get there. Baekhyun has no idea what Kyungsoo is doing all the way out here but in the end didn’t ask. He needed a ride back anyway.

He fell asleep as they make their way home. And when he woke up, he found himself in Kyungsoo’s bed. How he got there, Baekhyun has no idea. He usually sleeps on the couch. He wonders if Kyungsoo carried him. His mission clearly knocked him out, making him catch up on sleep on the way back.

Kyungsoo is asleep as well. He’s on his armchair in the far corner of his room, his head resting to one side. He has his arms crossed, tablet on the floor with the end credits rolling across the screen. Baekhyun supposes he fell asleep while watching his movie.

He watches Kyungsoo, a small smile forming on Baekhyun’s face as he sees him sleep peacefully. They’re always together and yet he rarely stares at him like this. He’s always too shy to look at him completely, afraid Kyungsoo would catch him staring. So he steals himself this moment to look at Kyungsoo’s handsome face, knowing right now is the best chance he has. 

Baekhyun only gets up and when he decides to move Kyungsoo to the bed. The position he’s in could hurt his neck. Baekhyun’s just a visitor and he feels kind of awkward now for taking his bed when Kyungsoo should’ve just taken the spot next to him since it’s a double. Baekhyun would also like to return the favor by carrying him to it. Surely he’d be able to handle him.

He crouches down and slips his arm gently under Kyungsoo’s legs and the other behind his back. Kyungsoo is soft and firm in his arms. If Jongdae and Chanyeol can see him about to carry Kyungsoo bridal style right now, he’ll never hear the end of it.

Baekhyun lifts Kyungsoo up. The moment he does so, Kyungsoo stirs in his hold and Baekhyun holds him closer so he doesn’t drop him. Baekhyun has no time to plop him back down the chair because Kyungsoo’s eyes open. Baekhyun wishes the floor would give way right about now because Kyungsoo’s large round eyes that are staring at him is making his cheeks burn. His eyes are neither angry nor surprised. It’s just boring into his.

“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo asks, voice raspy from sleep.

“You are Sleeping Beauty and I’m your prince about to rescue you away from this tower.” Baekhyun replies. He can’t help it. He has to say a joke otherwise he’ll just break out into a nervous sweat.

Kyungsoo doesn’t say anything. He just lies there in Baekhyun’s arms, head near his chest. Baekhyun can’t stop staring at him and neither can Kyungsoo. 

Baekhyun clears his throat. “You’re heavy.”

“Then put me down.”

Baekhyun does so.

“I’m going out to buy breakfast.” Baekhyun says at once, heading for the door. “Or lunch. I don’t really know what time it is.”

“It’s almost dinner.” Kyungsoo says, stretching as he stands.

“Yeah, okay. Dinner then. You want to come?”

“Nah,” Kyungsoo yawns. “I’ll cook.”

“You’re obviously still sleepy. “ Baekhyun points out.

“Not anymore.”

Kyungsoo makes him breakfast for dinner. He has extra bread that he makes a simple french toast, and eggs which he whipped to make really fluffy omelettes for the both of them. For awhile, it’s just the quiet sound of them moving around the kitchen and getting things done. When the food is cooked and Baekhyun sinks his teeth into a toast, he moans in delight out loud and forgets that his love life - or lack thereof - is in tatters.

“So,” Baekhyun swallows a forkful of eggs. “Tell me something. Why are you a hitman?”

Kyungsoo goes rigid for a split second and Baekhyun wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for him cursing under his breath as he sets the syrup bottle upright from drowning his toast. Baekhyun waits for him to give a reply but seconds tick by and Kyungsoo doesn’t explain himself.

Kyungsoo only cuts up his toast. “I’d rather not talk about that.” He finally says.

Baekhyun waves off the awkward air that had built up around them.

“Okay then. Let me change the subject. How are you able to cook so well?”

At this, Kyungsoo’s shoulders relax.

“If you’ve been living alone for a long while, you learn how to cook things.”

“I’ve been living alone for a long while and I don’t do this.” Baekhyun motions at their dinner spread.

“That’s because you’re lazy.”

Baekhyun scowls but Kyungsoo plops more french toast down his plate that his scowl quickly disappears.

He walks home afterwards. Kyungsoo has a mission scheduled and Baekhyun didn’t want to be alone in his place. He figures Kyungsoo might still not be comfortable leaving him alone in his own apartment. Kyungsoo offered to bring him home but Baekhyun said he’ll catch the subway. With everything he ate, he felt like giving his body that little bit of exercise it needed and decided to commute back home. 

And while he walks home, he thinks long and hard about why he’s doing this. Why he still goes to Kyungsoo’s apartment. Why he still lets him drive him around in his car. Why he still lets himself be coddled by the image of Kyungsoo and him together when clearly, he’s nothing more than just a friend. 

Chanyeol was right. He is torturing himself.

Baekhyun throws himself face first on the bed when he arrives.

Some days, it really doesn’t matter he has this insane crush on Kyungsoo. But he admits that there are a lot of days where it does. It matters so fucking much.

 

* * *

 

Baekhyun’s missions are usually twice a week. Three times when it gets busy. Sometimes he gets a week off with no schedules. Their jobs are fairly distributed that each of them working three times a week isn’t too much.

It shouldn’t be that stressful. But Baekhyun finds himself distracted for a couple of weeks after Kyungsoo let him down that he’s always in a tight spot every single time. He manages to get out of being in trouble at the last minute though. He’s lucky that way. But that only raises Chanyeol’s concerns who’s been monitoring his mission footages. 

“You’re going to get shot one of these days if your head’s not in the game.” Chanyeol says to him one afternoon to which he just waves off.

After another three weeks of barely getting out of his missions alive, Junmyeon pulls him aside and tells him to take a break. Chanyeol ratted out on him and told Junmyeon that Baekhyun was having some personal problems and that’s why he was distracted. And Junmyeon being the kind and caring boss that he is tells him to take a week off.

“I appreciate your hard work. But I can’t let you work under such conditions.” Junmyeon says. “Deal with whatever it is and come back to me in a week. Are you alright with that?”

No. It’s not alright. Baekhyun needs to be put on a mission so he doesn’t think about Kyungsoo.

“I have another one scheduled tomorrow.” Baekhyun reasons. “Please let me have that one and then I’ll take a break.”

Junmyeon doesn’t seem too keen on the idea of sending him on another mission but Baekhyun puts on his best pout until Junmyeon caves.

“Alright,” His boss sighs. “But please be-“

“Yeah, I know. I’ll be careful.” Baekhyun chirps, jumping from his seat and getting out of there quick before Junmyeon changes his mind.

Baekhyun tells Chanyeol he’s a traitor for telling on him.

“It was for your own good.” Chanyeol sing-songs as he leaves.

Baekhyun’s last mission is a no brainer. It’s a triad and they’re shipping fake art into the country and embezzling money for it. His mission is to take the leader out and burn the warehouse down where the fake art is stored. Easy.

He only gets to the part where he kills the leader of the triad and burning the warehouse as planned when he realizes the ones handling the art are innocents and know nothing of this. Baekhyun feels like slapping himself hard for not double checking that bit and he ends up diving into the burning warehouse to help the crew escape.

Of course he manages to save everyone. But he also gets himself trapped in the process. The heat from the flames makes it hard for him to concentrate in finding a way out and all he can do is cough and sputter as he moves along.

Baekhyun guesses this is it. This is the price he has to pay for not thinking things through. He’s going to die in this warehouse, buried under debris and no one will know because he’ll be a pile of ash once this is over. Chanyeol was wrong though. He didn’t get himself shot. Burned, more like. Baekhyun makes a mental note to come back as a ghost just to tell Chanyeol how wrong he was.

_ At least I got to tell Kyungsoo how I feel _ , is Baekhyun’s last thoughts before he dies. Or at least he thinks he’s dead because he’s hallucinating. There’s this bright light exploding in his eyes and a figure emerging from it. It’s a strange sight. But Baekhyun only feels like a spectator at the moment, unable to move. The figure is small and looks anxious as he nears and hauls Baekhyun out of there with one arm around his waist. Baekhyun lets whoever it is lead him to nowhere until the smoke finally clears, his lungs able to breathe in clean air and Baekhyun no longer sees red, but Kyungsoo’s angry face looking down at him.

“Are you insane?!” Kyungsoo yells at him, shaking him by the shoulders until Baekhyun finally snaps out of the haze. His throat hurts from coughing too much that he takes awhile to reply.

“I’m fine.” Baekhyun manages to say then wonders if he truly is. “Right?”

“The hell you are.” Kyungsoo seethes. He has his hands on his hips as he paces away from Baekhyun who’s on the ground just sitting there taking in this new reality. He’s alive somehow. He’s not sure how Kyungsoo got him out. But he’s alive and sitting in pavement in what he can recognize is an empty parking lot. The sounds of police siren can be heard from afar. Baekhyun tips his face upwards and sees smoke at a distance. They’re still near the fiery scene but far enough to stay hidden, Baekhyun supposes.

“Just what the fuck were you trying to do?” Kyungsoo asks. Demands. He’s angry and Baekhyun doesn’t understand why.

“I was on a mission.” Baekhyun recalls. “But it’s okay. I got the bad guy and made sure the good guys were safe.”

“The good guys?” Kyungsoo stares at him like he’s missing the point. “There are no good guys in our mission, Baekhyun. None.”

“There was in mine. The delivery crew.” Baekhyun rubs his face.

“You didn’t bother to check that bit before setting the place on fire?”

“Well, I mean…” Baekhyun starts but sees Kyungsoo’s eyes widen. “I did! After! They’re all safe, okay. I got them out just in time.”

“Yeah. Just in time for the roof to cave in with you in it!”

Baekhyun can’t remember that part.

“And not only were you caught in the fire, you almost blew your cover.” Kyungsoo continues. “What do you think is going to happen if they found you in that ruin, huh? Authorities are going to be all up on your autopsy and link you back to Junmyeon and ultimately link you to us. You think we need cops on our tail aside from the ones we already have?!”

Baekhyun’s head hurts. Kyungsoo’s shouting and the recent events he just went through isn’t helping with his pounding headache.

“Or were you just purposely trying to kill yourself? Like what you’ve been doing for the past week?”

Baekhyun’s really going to kill Chanyeol for telling everybody at work.

“If you want to kill yourself, make sure you do so without dragging the whole of EXO down with you!”

Baekhyun has had enough. He stands up, knees shaking from exhaustion and anger.

“Hey! I’m the one that’s dealing with all these missions. Not you!” He throws back at Kyungsoo.

“Exactly! Your missions. Which you always manage to fuck up!”

“What’s it to you?!” Baekhyun angrily yells back.

“It has everything to do with me! Who picks up your ass if I don’t?!”

“Then don’t do it if you hate it so much!”

“I didn’t say I hate it!”

“Then why the hell do you even care?!”

“Because I do! I care a lot about you!”

Baekhyun stops yelling at that. His heart is pounding in his ears and his head is spinning now. Did he hear that right?

Kyungsoo is a step closer and looking at him now, chest heaving from all the yelling. He doesn’t look like he cares about him. In all honesty, Baekhyun thinks he looks like he’s ready to shoot him. He’s so angry and Baekhyun can’t understand what he’s so angry about.

He said he cares about him. But why?

“Hold on a minute,” Baekhyun raises a finger up at him. “Are you just saying that because I once told you I liked you?”

That’s got to be it, right? Kyungsoo may be angry at him but he’s only being nice. He’s only pretending to care about him, making sure he’s safe and all that because Baekhyun said he liked him that one time.

Kyungsoo groans. “You’re an idiot.”

“Yeah?” Baekhyun is annoyed now. “Well dumb it down for a minute here and get on my level because I can’t understand you. Why do you care about me?”

Kyungsoo only looks at him and once again, Baekhyun is reminded of a time he asked him why he became a hitman. The sudden rigidness of his shoulders, the silence, the inability to say anything at all.

Baekhyun doesn’t want to push him. He’s tired. A roof fell on him. Even if he’s so curious about this, he doesn’t have the physical and mental capacity to deal with Kyungsoo. What he wants is a bubble bath.

“Fine. Don’t answer that.” Baekhyun makes his way to Kyungsoo’s car. “Let’s just get out of here.”

A firm grip on his wrist stops him from leaving. Baekhyun turns to Kyungsoo but he only sees him lowering his head. There’s a droop to his shoulders, like an exhausted defeat. Baekhyun is about to ask him what’s wrong when Kyungsoo finally speaks up.

“I don’t know.” He says, voice so tired and small, a first Baekhyun has heard from him. “Not yet.”

Baekhyun wonders what he’s talking about when he realizes he’s answering the last thing he asked him about.

“I really don’t know why. But I know I do.”

Baekhyun’s heart starts hammering again. This is what he’s been wanting to hear. Not quite the answer he’s been expecting but it’s real.

But why does Kyungsoo sound… scared?

“So if you could… If you could just take care of yourself until I figure things out…” A small frustrated sound escapes Kyungsoo’s lips. “ I’m not used to this. It’s difficult-”

Baekhyun pulls him towards him and throws his arms around his shoulders in a tight embrace. Kyungsoo is stiff in his hold but he slowly loosens up. He doesn’t touch him back but he doesn’t push Baekhyun away either. Baekhyun doesn’t mind that he’s like this but only continues to hug him.

He really is an idiot for believing Kyungsoo didn’t like him back.

“I’m sorry.” He whispers. “I’ll take care of myself better. I promise.”

“Yeah. You should.”

Baekhyun feels his limbs all sore. The exhaustion is weighing down on him and yet, having Kyungsoo in his arms like this is kind of a relief from everything he’s feeling at the moment. Him and Kyungsoo together. It’s the picture he’s always wanted.

The sound of the police sirens grow louder and only then does Baekhyun let go of Kyungsoo.

“Let’s get out of here before we both get caught and I don’t get to find out the answer to my question.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at him at that while Baekhyun just grins.

They walk out of there hand in hand. Baekhyun is glad Kyungsoo doesn’t let go.


	16. Chapter 16

Jongdae can tell Junmyeon is distracted. He’s in the middle of giving an end of the month inventory report on their firearms and Junmyeon is sitting there staring blankly at nothing. Jongdae knows he’s not listening to him because he jokingly said he just ordered them an armored tank and Junmyeon didn’t even bat an eye at that.

It’s the recent events that’s getting to his boss. There’s finding out they were all being tailed. Then there’s Jongin and Sehun discovering who it was. SM is a new name to Jongdae’s ears but it did trouble Junmyeon to no end. In his curiosity, Jongdae asked Chanyeol if he knew what SM meant or if it came up in his own database. It didn’t. He knew the name of the woman who tailed Jongin via her DNA but nothing of her linked her to any SM group.

Jongdae wished he could do something for Junmyeon. He still gets him his morning coffee but he wants to do more than just that.

Jongdae internally sighs and proceeds to list down the bullet stocks they have when Junmyeon finally raises a hand to stop him. Jongdae lowers his list and looks at his boss. 

“Would you like to go for a drive with me?”

Jongdae is taken aback by that random question but nevertheless nods his head.

Minutes later, he finds himself in the passenger seat of Junmyeon’s car, to which Junmyeon himself is driving. He let his usual driver off from work early. Jongdae has no idea where they’re going and he’s itching to ask. They’ve been driving down south for half an hour now. 

“Are we heading somewhere specific?”

“No, not really.” Junmyeon replies. “I just wanted to see if we’ll be followed.”

Jongdae’s eyes widen. He was not expecting that answer. “Are you crazy?”

“Not at all.” Junmyeon smiles.

Jongdae takes a moment to process just how calm Junmyeon is. When he thinks he’s serious, Jongdae takes the gun he brought from inside his coat pocket, gives it a once-over and then puts it back.

Junmyeon frowns when he notices it. “That’s not necessary. I don’t think we’ll get that sort of action.”

Jongdae gives him a straight face. “Let me be the judge of that.”

Now that he knows why they’re really out for a drive, Jongdae can’t seem to sit still. He’s too stiff in his seat and the seat belt doesn’t help. He feels too out in the open and would very much like it if Junmyeon just turned the car around and head back to the office where they can be safe.

“Relax,” Junmyeon starts, as if he knows what he’s actually thinking. He looks at Jongdae with a soft expression on his face that makes Jongdae sit back comfortably in his seat. “I didn’t ask you to come with me so you can risk your life.”

“I wasn’t thinking that.” Jongdae replies. “But I am curious as to why you brought me.”

Junmyeon changes lanes before answering. 

“The thing about working on the field is that I need someone to record details and has a good eye on things. Someone I can trust.”

“You trust all of us.” Jongdae says.

“Well, that, and someone I’m also very very comfortable with.”

Jongdae looks out the window just so Junmyeon doesn’t see the blush he can feel forming on his cheeks.

They continue to drive. There were suspicious vehicles but Jongdae is only judging them based on how heavy the tint they have. Jongdae is never out on the field that much. He only hopes his observations can be useful for Junmyeon.

They’re almost up to the next city and Junmyeon stops on a nearby gas station for a quick rest stop. Junmyeon buys them both coffee while Jongdae goes on a bathroom break. He sends out a quick text to Chanyeol where they are in case something happens to them. He then opens up his phone’s location so it would be easy for Chanyeol to track them down better. He hadn’t left a message where they were going, and Jongdae only has a short range pistol with him. 

Jongdae’s phone beeps as he’s walking back to the car.

_ Are you two on a date???  _ Chanyeol’s text makes Jongdae roll his eyes.

_ No. We’re working.  _ He replies.

_ It’s too late to head back. Book a room. Spend the night together. Then tell me all about it tomorrow. Don’t leave out details! _

Jongdae shakes his head and pockets his phone.

Junmyeon is also walking back to the car with two cups of coffee in hand. Jongdae quickens his steps to help him when he suddenly sees someone suspicious approaching Junmyeon. Alarmed, Jongdae reaches for his gun inside his jacket when Junmyeon’s eyes meet his. He gives him a subtle shake of his head and Jongdae holds his panic and annoyance as he stays back.

Jongdae watches as Junmyeon purposely bumps into the man first that even the latter is startled. Junmyeon steps back and dips his head.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

The man gives a grunt of annoyance. “Watch where you’re going next time.” He spits out.

“I most definitely will.” Junmyeon answers with a smile.

The man stares at him for a moment. He doesn’t look like he wants to leave but he eventually does so, heading to the bathroom. Jongdae makes sure to glare at him as he passes by but it goes unnoticed as the man hurries inside. 

Jongdae heads back to the car. Junmyeon is already inside, their cups of coffee in their holders as he shakes off his jacket and hands it to Jongdae.

“There’s a bag in the glove compartment.” He says as he starts the car and drives. “Put the jacket in there and seal it. When we get back, I need you to check if he left anything. Strand of hair. Saliva.” Junmyeon then hands him his phone. “Give this to Chanyeol. I recorded his voice. Chanyeol should be able to trace it to see if he can identify who it was.”

Jongdae does what he is told. He takes the jacket and the phone, sealing the former and pocketing the latter. All the while, his hands are shaking. Junmyeon had been close to a potential threat. Too close.

“You got a good look at him?” Junmyeon asks. Jongdae answers with a nod. “Good. Have Chanyeol work on that sketch application.”

His hands are still shaking as he tries contacting Chanyeol. He drops his own phone, cursing under his breath as he picks it up and then drops it again. He’s about to lose it when Junmyeon places a hand atop his own. Jongdae stops fidgeting. He is well aware how clammy and sweaty his hands are, but Junmyeon doesn’t seem to mind.

“It’s alright. We’re fine.” He says, offering a soft smile to Jongdae before driving out.

“I wasn’t worried about me,” Jongdae replies. “He was too close. You were right there and you bumped into him on purpose. Why did you even do that? What if he had an accomplice? What if he took you?”

Junmyeon signals to turn to a safe spot on the highway to park the car. As soon as the car is idle, he turns to Jongdae, who only realizes he himself is short of breath and panting a little as he gets his bearings together. When he does so, he turns to Junmyeon who has an apologetic look on his face.

“I’m alright.” Junmyeon assures him.

“Now. You’re alright now. But next time…” Jongdae presses his lips together before continuing. There’s going to be a next time, he’s sure of it. Junmyeon is stubborn. Jongdae dreads what’s going to happen next time if Junmyeon isn’t careful.

“Promise me something, hyung.”

Junmyeon squeezes his hand, letting him know he’s listening.

“Whenever you want to do any of these field work, you take me.” Jongdae says sternly. “If you don’t want it to be me, take Kyungsoo, Minseok hyung, anyone. Just take-”

“Alright. I’ll take you.” Junmyeon promises. “I’ll take you with me.”

Jongdae nods at that, calming down a little. Junmyeon doesn’t say anything else. All he does is hold his hand, squeezing and assuring him that everything’s fine. He’s right here. Junmyeon is right here with him.

“Let’s head home?” Junmyeon asks after a little while, giving Jongdae an encouraging smile. Jongdae nods. He’s aware of the weight of Junmyeon’s hand in his own, belatedly realizing that they were soft and warm only when Junmyeon finally let go so as to drive them both back home. 


	17. Chapter 17

Baekhyun is comfortable in his seat. Kyungsoo’s couch is always like that. Inviting. Warm. Must be why he’s slept over a bunch of times.

Today he’s just hanging out with him. Just that. No missions. Just him chilling on the couch and going through a grocery catalogue while Kyungsoo is on the other end of it cleaning his gun. 

Kyungsoo hasn’t said anything about that day. Baekhyun hadn’t pressed him to talk about it. He would’ve wanted to. But if there’s anything he’s learned from being with Kyungsoo this long is that he has to wait. The guy isn’t the greatest talker in the whole world but he talks. In his own time. 

Baekhyun takes a peak at him from above the magazine. Kyungsoo’s trying so hard to clean his gun. His forehead creases with such concentration that Baekhyun has to fight back a smile. 

Kyungsoo, who can somehow sense these things, stops what he’s doing and turns to look at him. Baekhyun doesn’t have time to look away.

“What?” Kyungsoo asks.

“What?” Baekhyun asks back.

“You were staring.”

“I was.” Baekhyun admits. “I think you’re really handsome.”

Kyungsoo just looks at him. Baekhyun gives him a smile. Kyungsoo opens his mouth but doesn’t give a reply. He only closes it and then goes back to cleaning his gun profusely this time.

Baekhyun keeps on smiling though. It’s not the first time he’s thrown such compliments his way. Just yesterday, he told Kyungsoo he has a very cute ass.

He tries to joke around as much as he can. The mood at the office was getting somber lately. Everyone’s on high alert. Just last week, Sehun found that Jongin was bugged. They managed to get rid of it at the last minute. Junmyeon was also followed but they managed to get some of that guy’s DNA which Chanyeol processed. Chanyeol has constantly been changing the door’s passcode and updating their files. Jongdae has been switching their missions too in case their schedule has been compromised.

It doesn’t look good. Someone’s after them and Junmyeon hasn’t been telling them anything. It’s business as usual. It’s obvious Kyungsoo is trying hard to follow Junmyeon’s orders to lay low and just focus on his missions. But Baekhyun can tell he already wants to get this over with. Find the bad guys. Kill them if they have to.

“Hey,” Baekhyun nudges Kyungsoo gently with his feet. “Tell me again who these guys might be who are after us.”

Kyungsoo had mentioned them a few days after they all switched schedules. He brought up a name, saying he’d go after them. Minseok backed him up quick. But Junmyeon cut him off, told him that under no circumstance were they to find these guys. And then Junmyeon went to have coffee with his father, almost as if avoiding any conversation about it. It was obvious Kyungsoo didn’t like to be told to stay put at all.

Kyungsoo gives his gun one last check before putting it down. Baekhyun is starting to think he asked the wrong thing. There’s so much Baekhyun wants to know. He came at a time where EXO seemed to be an established organization, but one that was dealing with a lot of newbies. He entered around the same time as Yixing, Sehun, and Jongin. They weren’t there at the start. The rest of the team probably knows what’s going on but no one seems to want to talk about it. But he needs to know just what is going on that has Junmyeon, Kyungsoo and most of all, Minseok, all worried about.

“We had a hitman once.” 

Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo who’s just sitting there, eyes trained at the gun on the table and with a rag still in his hand.

“Luhan?” Baekhyun guesses. Kyungsoo turns to him then in mild surprise. Baekhyun gives him a small smile. “I’ve heard his name pop up in some conversations between Jongdae and Chanyeol. They didn’t say anything much about him though.”

Kyungsoo gives a slow nod. “Yes, well, he used to be one of us. He was a good friend.”

“Was?” Baekhyun is confused. “Did he…?” Kyungsoo doesn’t give a reply at that but Baekhyun can tell what happened. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Kyungsoo nods, looking back at his gun. “He was the best out of all of us. He wasn’t in Junmyeon’s hitman agency then. But we all knew him.” 

Baekhyun sees Kyungsoo shift in his seat before he continues.

“When his contract ended with his agency, he decided not to renew it and joined EXO instead. His old agency didn’t like that. They didn’t like having to lose their best hitman. So they tried to get him back.”

“How?”

“They gave him gifts. Money. Cars. Everything. But Luhan wouldn’t resign from EXO. He liked hyung’s agency by then. It was more humane.” Kyungsoo tosses the dirty rag he was holding on to the table. “So they got rough. They tried taking him by force. They meddled in his missions. Until one particular mission got him in a tight spot. A bomb went off. He was buried in concrete. It killed him.”

Baekhyun sees Kyungsoo’s jaw tighten. He doesn’t have to ask what Luhan meant to Kyungsoo or Minseok or even Junmyeon. He was one of them and that was enough. He considered them all as family.

He scoots over and sits closer to Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo looks at him for a second and Baekhyun can see nothing in his eyes. He isn’t sad. He isn’t angry. It’s like he feels nothing. Baekhyun doesn’t know what to say. What’s obvious though is Kyungsoo never really got over it. 

“These people… They’re after Junmyeon hyung aren’t they?” Baekhyun guesses again.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because they blame him for Luhan’s death. If they can’t have Luhan back, they want the guy who took him away from them. They want hyung.”

“But that isn’t his fault.”

“I know. We keep telling him that. But he thinks it’s his. He thinks he should’ve protected Luhan better.”

Kyungsoo starts nibbling on his lower lip. Baekhyun has never seen him do that before.

“You’re worried.” He says to him.

Kyungsoo nods, looking at the ground. “Hyung may be smart, but he’s kind of stupid, too. I don’t want him to make some kind of self-sacrificial choice if it comes down to anything.”

Baekhyun may be new but he knows this much about Junmyeon. He cares for all of them. He’d take a bullet for them if he has to.

“I just… I hate sitting around waiting for them to do something to any of us.” Kyungsoo looks at him. “To you.”

This time, Baekhyun doesn’t see nothing. He sees Kyungsoo a little vulnerable. Afraid. He sees a guy who’s been through a loss, and it’s something Baekhyun wants to erase from his eyes. 

Baekhyun grabs his hand tightly. “We’ll all be fine. Especially me. I have luck with me, remember?” He adds with a chuckle.

Only that Kyungsoo doesn’t seem to find that funny and for that whole day, Baekhyun can’t stop thinking about what they’re up against. 


	18. Chapter 18

Junmyeon never always calls for a meeting unless it’s necessary. To him, meetings meant there were big problems needed to be fixed. So unless he had a solution to it, he wouldn’t call everyone to meet up.

Today is an exception.

He only calls Minseok and Kyungsoo. Not because he has a problem, but because he felt like he owed them this courtesy to let them know what he’s about to do. Junmyeon may not mingle around them much. But he knows what’s going on inside his business to know that there are people involved in what he’s about to say that concerns his two best men. He only hopes none of them give them a hard time over it.

“I know where their location is.”

As expected, Minseok and Kyungsoo looks at him with determination on their face. This is what they’ve been waiting to hear from him.

Junmyeon sits back in his seat and looks at the both of them sitting across from him in his office.

“Chanyeol was able to track the signal of the device that was placed on Jongin along with that voice recognition from the man that tailed us. It was a match. It was able to pinpoint a location.”

“Good.” Minseok says under his breath but somehow, Junmyeon was able to hear it from the stillness of the room.

“And after much thought,” Junmyeon continues. “I have decided to strike before they do.”

“Now we’re talking.” Minseok lets out a grin while Kyungsoo sits back quietly.

“We’re not going to kill them.” Junmyeon interjects before Minseok can get another word out. “What we’re going to do is to send back a threat, much like what they’ve been doing. The mission is to get into their intel, place this chip-” Junmyeon holds out a tiny chip between his forefinger and thumb and shows it to them. “-and clip it into their main hub. Once it’s done, Chanyeol can access it from here and delete all the data they’ve managed to pick up on us. Our identities, our locations, all deleted.”

Minseok gives Junmyeon a confused look.

“Oh…. kay? That isn’t exactly what I wanted but, alright. Better than doing nothing.” Minseok stands. “When do I go?”

Junmyeon takes a deep breath before answering.

“I didn’t say you would be the one to go.”

Now even Kyungsoo looks confused as he finally looks at him.

“What? Why did you tell me this then?” Minseok asks.

“I wanted you and Kyungsoo to know because you deserve to hear it from me first. I wanted the both of you to be aware of the plan.”

Minseok shoots him a strange look. “Then what good is telling me if I can’t be the one to do it?”

“Minseok, I know you.” Junmyeon starts carefully. “With that said, I know you’ll turn this into a personal agenda and I can’t have that.”

“It is a  _ fucking  _ personal agenda.” Minseok says angrily.

“We are not killing them.” Junmyeon says as sternly as possible. “That doesn’t make us any better than what they wanted to do to Luhan.”

At his name, Minseok’s jaw tightens.

“So you’re sending Kyungsoo?” He asks.

“No.” Junmyeon answers. This time, both of them look surprised. Junmyeon doesn’t blame them. 

“Then who?” Minseok asks.

“I’m sending Baekhyun.”

His office is back to being quiet and still. It’s as if no one is breathing even if the air suddenly seems a little thick. 

“Junmyeon,” Minseok comes up to his desk slowly and leans towards him. “You know Baekhyun runs on luck, right?”

Junmyeon gives a soft smile at this as he thinks about his newest recruit.

“I don’t doubt his luck and his abilities. But Baekhyun is perfect for the job. He’s fast. Faster than Sehun and Jongin. He can be there in and out quick. Nobody will be able to see him. And he has nothing connected to them. Nothing from the past. Nothing now. No one will ever see him coming.”

Junmyeon has thought this through. Out of all his men, Baekhyun was perfect for the job. Not once has Baekhyun failed him. Well, maybe that one time: his first mission, if Junmyeon can recall. But he was able to clean up that job, too. He trusts Baekhyun can do it, and he knows Minseok always trusts his judgement.

True enough, Minseok stops leaning towards him and stands upright. “Fine.”

Junmyeon breathes a little easier at that.

“Just… Do what you have to do. I can’t live with them on our backs anymore.” Minseok says. Junmyeon can understand. He can’t imagine the stress he and Luhan have been living under just trying to stay hidden.

Junmyeon stands and reaches out to place a hand on Minseok’s shoulder, a firm gesture that he’s going to stay true to his word and deal with it properly this time.

“We’ll get this over with quick.” He promises.

Minseok nods and leaves, not sparing them a look back.

It isn’t until Junmyeon makes his way back to his desk and sits down does he realize Kyungsoo is still there. He’s no longer sitting comfortably in his seat but standing with a hardened gaze in his expression.

“Kyungsoo?”

“You can’t send Baekhyun.” He says, a first since he entered his office. Junmyeon is taken aback by that.

“I  _ can’t _ ?”

“Let me do it.” Kyungsoo replies. “I can do it better than he can.”

“They know your face.”

“I can be just as fast as Baekhyun. They won’t see me coming.”

“I don’t want to risk that.”

_ “You have no choice.” _

Junmyeon stares at him, not liking the way Kyungsoo is raising his voice. He eyes him, studying him. His once composed hitman looks like he’s nervous, and he’s masking it with bravery and anger that Junmyeon doesn’t even understand where it’s coming from.

Looking up at him, Junmyeon tells him once more. “I am not giving this mission to you.”

Kyungsoo’s palm comes down hard on his table but Junmyeon doesn’t flinch. Junmyeon watches as Kyungsoo grits his teeth and looks at him. “You can’t send Baekhyun.”

Junmyeon tries to approach this in a different way.

“Why not?” He asks. He’s curious.

“Just like Minseok hyung said, he runs on luck. He’s not sharp enough for this mission. He’ll mess up. He won’t know which way is left or right. They’ll get to him before he can.”

“But that’s not just it, isn’t it?” Junmyeon knows there’s something more. It’s obvious now. It’s actually endearing. Out of everyone, Junmyeon has always wished that Kyungsoo would find someone. Just like Luhan is to Minseok, or Jongin is to Sehun. He can understand truly where this need to replace Baekhyun is coming from. But he can’t send Kyungsoo.

“I’m sorry. But no.” Junmyeon says this clearly that Kyungsoo looks at him helplessly at that.

“I know you care about him. I really do." He continues. "But you and I both know Baekhyun is a good choice. You know that very well. Not even Sehun and Jongin can move as fast as he can. Not even you.”

“Then send me with him.”

Junmyeon sighs. “Kyungsoo, I am trying my hardest to keep everyone safe. You’re making everything harder by insisting this.”

“Baekhyun won’t last. He won’t-”

Junmyeon stands and levels his eyes with his. 

“Trust him. You know I do.”

Kyungsoo holds his gaze. Whatever it is he’s searching in there, he must’ve found it. for he only leaves and slams the door behind him.

Junmyeon sinks back in his seat, finding the conversation exhausting. He only hopes that Kyungsoo comes around and understands why he’s doing this.


	19. Chapter 19

Baekhyun whistles a tune he heard on his way over as he whips out his ID and scans his card at EXO’s entrance. He then opens his eyes wide as the scanner does a sweep over it. At the sound of a beep, the doors unlock and Baekhyun steps inside, lugging behind his bag filled with video games he brought over. It’s his free day and the past free days he had was spent doing his laundry and getting his groceries done. Today, he’s going to kick Jongdae and Chanyeol’s asses tonight as promised.

He yawns as he shrugs off his jacket and places it on the rack thinking about last night. He crashed on Kyungsoo’s couch. He hadn’t planned on it. But he fell asleep after finishing a mission and having dinner at Kyungsoo’s place. Although when he woke up, he wasn’t on the couch anymore but in Kyungsoo’s bed. He couldn’t remember how he got there. And that dream, that strange dream he had, that Kyungsoo was in bed with him and stroking his face. Nothing happened afterwards except that he turned around and his dream faded away into nothing until he woke up. 

Baekhyun never really has strange dreams of Kyungsoo. This one was a first.

Jongdae’s head pokes out from under his desk as Baekhyun drops his bag on the floor.

“What are you doing?” He asks. Jongdae looks up, a mound of dust on his nose.

“Fixing the internet router. Chanyeol left in a hurry last night and tripped over on some wires.” Jongdae mutters as he goes back to fixing the cables. “Did you bring the games?”

“Yup,” Baekhyun replies. “What time is Chanyeol getting back?” 

“I have no idea. He hasn’t come in yet, that’s for sure.” Jongdae finally gets up and pats away dust from his hair and clothes. The one on his nose is still there though and Baekhyun grins at him without saying anything about it as he leaves to load the game.

“So which one’s do you want to play first-”

“Baekhyun? What are you doing here?”

Baekhyun stops hooking up the console to the TV to turn around. Junmyeon is there standing with a confused look on his face.

“I wasn’t fired, am I?” Baekhyun wonders out loud. Because Junmyeon never always has a problem with them hanging out here during the free days off. “I’m still working here? I mean, not today obviously but like-”

He stops as Junmyeon walks towards their stations. “You shouldn’t be here.” Junmyeon says, sounding very much worried which now makes Baekhyun the one confused.

“Chanyeol, I need you to review the cameras.” He says.

“Chanyeol’s not here.” Jongdae answers from his desk. “I’ll do it.”

Baekhyun doesn’t know why Junmyeon looks nervous as Jongdae scans the CCTV. He too turns his eyes to the monitors looking at whatever they’re all supposed to be looking.

After a few minutes, Junmyeon speaks up.

“Hold that frame.” He says. Jongdae does so and Baekhyun can make out Kyungsoo in Junmyeon’s office at around four in the morning. That’s weird. Because Baekhyun knows Kyungsoo was with him that night. He usually gets up early to walk around the docks. Was that why he was gone when Baekhyun woke up? What was he doing back at the office at that hour?

“Play it. Slow.” Junmyeon commands. They all watch as the frame slows and sees Kyungsoo looking around Junmyeon’s office. Baekhyun’s not sure what he’s looking for until Kyungsoo picks up a file on Junmyeon’s desk and walks out the door. 

A mission file.

“He didn’t…” Junmyeon mumbles under his breath. 

“Is that…” Jongdae squints at another monitor. “Minseok hyung?”

Baekhyun watches as Minseok bumps into Kyungsoo in the hallway. They seem surprised to see each other at first and then suddenly they’re engaged in an argument. After a while though, they leave together at the same time.

“This is bad.” Junmyeon says. Jongdae and Baekhyun exchange looks before turning their attention to Junmyeon. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with what they saw apart from Kyungsoo seemingly rummaging through Junmyeon’s desk. But before they can ask, Junmyeon is already heading back to his office.

“Call them. Both of them.” Junmyeon says in a rush. Baekhyun has no idea what is going on, but he’s whipping out his phone and pressing Kyungsoo’s number fast. 

“I can’t contact Minseok hyung.” Jongdae says, his phone still pressed to his ear as he redials.

Baekhyun can only hear ringing on the other end of the line. “Kyungsoo’s not picking up either.”

The door buzzes open and Sehun and Jongin arrive with two boxes of large pizzas on their hands.

“Hey, we brought breakfast! Or lunch.” Jongin announces.

“Who left the toilet clogged again?” Sehun laughs. “Is it Chanyeol hyung? I told him to stop drinking milk tea on an empty stomach. Now the guys from the plumbing are here.”

“Toilet’s fine. I just went a few minutes ago.” Jongdae explains, still calling Minseok. “And Chanyeol hasn’t been here all day. Have you guys seen Kyungsoo and Minseok hyung?”

Before Sehun or Jongin can answer, Junmyeon speaks up.

“Wait, I didn’t call for plumbing.” Junmyeon looks at Jongdae. “Did you?”

“No.” Jongdae shakes his head.

For some reason, they all quiet down as they process this information. When it clicks, it happens to all of them at once that when the doorbell rings, no one moves to answer the door. 

They’re all staring at it when Junmyeon finally says, “Step away from the-”

But he doesn’t his finish his sentence for there’s a loud explosion going off in all of their faces.

 

***

 

Sehun coughs. He can’t see. There’s too much smoke and debris to see clearly. He winces as he feels his backside sore from the impact of him flying across the room. He and Jongin were nearest to the door and got thrown back at the explosion.

He feels so stupid. How could he have missed that van. Someone obviously followed them back here again. He should’ve been more careful.

Arms circle around him in a tight hold from behind that has Sehun twist for his attacker to let go.

“It’s me.” Jongin hisses. Sehun feels relief wash over him as he lets Jongin drag him away from the smoke. It’s all a mess. The pizza he was holding is now gone from his hands. Even the whole office looks gone now. 

Once they’ve found a clearing, he turns, checking up on Jongin. The side of his forehead is bleeding. 

“I’m fine.” Jongin says in a hushed tone. “We need to find the others.”

They don’t have to search hard. The blast propelled them all in the same direction that Sehun and Jongin found the rest close to them. Baekhyun is already up on his feet as he helps Junmyeon who got his leg trapped underneath one of their desks. Jongdae is hurrying towards what used to be Chanyeol’s area as he searches for something. Whatever it is, he presses hard. It then opens up a pathway underneath the rug. 

“Come on.” Jongdae kicks off the rug and  motions to all of them as Baekhyun and Junmyeon head down first. 

“You guys go on ahead.” Sehun says. “We’ll hold the fort here.”

Jongdae looks at them like he’s crazy. But whoever set off that bomb is still out there. They’re coming for all of them. And Sehun doesn’t need to ask for details that they’re coming especially for Junmyeon.

“Don’t worry about us.” Jongin says beside him. “You guys get Junmyeon hyung safe.”

Jongdae gives them one last look before finally nodding. “You guys take care. Contact no one but me when you’re clear. Be careful”

Sehun helps Jongdae down and then closes the trap door. He pushes the rug back and hauls a few debris to cover it.

Once they’re done, they both crouch down and head towards the pantry for cover.

“You still got your gun?” Jongin asks, already pulling out his.

Sehun nods, taking out his as well.

“There’s four by the door.” Jongin says. “Let’s take them out quick.”

They don’t count to three out loud. They’ve always been in sync that way. Sehun only has to cock his weapon and then, they both move.

 

* * * 

 

Chanyeol can’t believe it but he’s finally on a date with Yixing. Unless it isn’t a date but just two friends hanging out over coffee. Whatever it is, Chanyeol is just glad Yixing asked him out to help him shop for a new phone. “With all the smart phones out there I feel a little dumb not knowing which ones to choose.” Yixing reasoned out last night. Chanyeol was so happy he left work early, tripping on a bunch of cable wires as he left.

They finally bought the phone and Chanyeol is excitedly teaching Yixing the many features it has. Chanyeol honestly doesn’t know which one is cuter: the fact that Yixing is impressed with the phone’s built in filters or because he’s already looking forward to the many games Chanyeol downloaded for him to play. “So I can finally understand what you, Jongdae, and Baekhyun are so hooked on.” Yixing had said. Chanyeol is only happy to teach him everything.

“Thank you.” Yixing says to him as they sit outside the cafe. It’s a quiet morning and the sun is comfortably warm out.

“You’re welcome. I’ve always wanted to come help pick out a phone for you.” Chanyeol says. This has Yixing chuckle.

“I saw the look that guy gave me when I handed him my old phone so he can sync all my contacts. He wasn’t expecting it to be a flip phone.” 

“You know I could’ve done that for you too.”

“Nah,” Yixing waves him off. “You already went with me when you’re supposed to be working.”

“Oh I didn’t have anything planned today.” Technically, that was a white lie. He was supposed to meet Jongdae and Baekhyun back at the office for their usual game day. But Yixing called and well, Chanyeol supposes the guys would understand.

“So are you free until lunch?” Yixing asks.

Chanyeol beams. “Of course. Where do you want to go?”

“I know a great burger place down here.”

They both grab their coffee and head to the parking lot when a sudden loud shot is heard. Chanyeol ducks so fast, bringing Yixing down with him as panic ensues all around them. 

“What the hell?!” Chanyeol looks around, wondering what all the commotion is. He can’t see a thing. A lot of people are screaming and running around the vicinity.

“Come on. We have to get out of here.” Chanyeol pulls Yixing up when the doctor doesn’t budge. Chanyeol turns to see what’s wrong when Yixing shakily looks at his hand. Chanyeol follows his gaze when he sees blood.

“Where…” Chanyeol follows where Yixing was clutching when he sees blood seeping out of his white dress shirt near his stomach.

His head spins. It’s been a very long while since he’s seen that much blood. And at this close of a distance too. It’s vibrant against the white. Blinding.  He’s horrified by the sight of it but after seeing where it is coming from, and feeling Yixing go slightly limp now, Chanyeol forces back the nausea that’s threatening to consume him.

Chanyeol throws Yixing’s arm around his neck as he lifts him up.

“Come on. I’m getting you to a hospital.”

The phone in his pocket keeps ringing but Chanyeol doesn’t answer it. He’s too busy making sure Yixing doesn’t die in his arms.

 

* * *

 

Kyungsoo is silent as he drives. Minseok keeps quiet beside him as well. He can tell Kyungsoo is angry at him. Minseok understands why. When he went back to the office to get that file, Kyungsoo was already one step ahead of him. He wouldn’t give it to him then. Said that Junmyeon was right about this clouding his judgement. But Minseok doesn’t care. He wants to be the one to do this.

For Luhan. 

_ God _ he hates it that they’ve been hiding for so long. Minseok can’t stand looking over their shoulders all the time. He knows they can protect each other well. But for once, Minseok just wants to stop worrying about it. He wants to bring them down. He wouldn’t be able to live if Baekhyun was the one who did it or even Kyungsoo.

Minseok takes a peak at him. Kyungsoo has both hands on the wheel tight. He stole the mission file from Junmyeon. He stole it so Baekhyun doesn’t have to go. The things they do for the people they care about the most… Minseok doesn’t want to think what Junmyeon would do when he finds out. 

“We’re not going to kill anyone.” Kyungsoo says for the first time since they got in the car. Minseok would’ve wanted to kill a few people tonight. But,

“Fine.” He huffs back. He doesn’t want to strain things with Junmyeon even further.

His phone suddenly rings. So does Kyungsoo’s. Minseok looks at his phone and sees Jongdae calling him. On Kyungsoo’s phone, Baekhyun’s name flashes.

None of them decide to answer it.


	20. Chapter 20

Jongdae has never been on the field. Never. He’s always with Chanyeol monitoring missions through the cameras instead of being with the rest out. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to be a hitman. It’s just that there really never was a chance to be one. He’s just the guy always doing the inventory.

He can be that guy. He knows how to point and shoot. But right now, he’s the guy helping Junmyeon wrap a bandage around his leg. Thank God for first aid kits stored everywhere. That desk landed on Junmyeon’s leg hard that the edge of it pierced through his skin. Junmyeon doesn’t look like he’s in pain though. He’s still too busy calling up Kyungsoo on his phone.

Baekhyun is still up on the stairs, gun in hand as he waits by the door. If anyone goes through it, Baekhyun is going to put a hole through their heads. 

Jongdae finishes up with a tight knot. He needs Yixing to get to them as soon as possible to fix this. He can only do so much. Yixing has to clean this wound afterwards because Jongdae didn’t know how to do it. He tried calling him but he wasn’t answering. Neither was Chanyeol.

“Are you okay?” Jongdae asks Junmyeon once he’s done.

“We have to get back up there.” Junmyeon replies. “Sehun and Jongin-”

“They’ll handle it.” Jongdae says firmly.

“Not those men.” Junmyeon says worriedly.

“They’ll handle it just fine.” He assures his boss. 

“I have to go up and help them.” This time, it’s Baekhyun who speaks up.

“No.” Junmyeon stops him. “I need you to go after Minseok and Kyungsoo. I need you to stop them from doing anything rash. Kyungsoo might stick to the mission but Minseok wouldn’t. I need you to get to them before those men do.”

Jongdae has no idea what mission Junmyeon is talking about and it’s obvious Baekhyun doesn’t know what he’s talking about either. 

Junmyeon fumbles for something in his pants pocket and Jongdae sees him taking out keys.

“Here,” Junmyeon tosses it to Baekhyun. Baekhyun catches it and turns it over.

“Take one of my cars down in the basement. You know how to drive, right?”

Baekhyun nods.

“Great. Take one. Lead them to the location I’m about to send you -”

Footsteps sound down the hallway. Baekhyun points his gun towards the sound fast while Jongdae takes his own out and points at the hallway too. It’s their only exit to the basement and if it’s blocked, there’s no way out but back up.

They wait, and all Jongdae can hear is his heart hammering. Hands shaking, he grips his gun tighter.

The footsteps sound closer and closer until Jongdae can make out a figure. He steps in front of Junmyeon, keeping him safe behind him, just as the figure steps out from the shadows.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” Junmyeon says. Jongdae sighs as he sees who it is and lowers his weapon. Baekhyun doesn’t though and Jongdae motions for him to do so. It’s okay. They know who it is.

“Yeah well, Minseok didn’t get home last night and I just saw the headlines in the news minutes ago.  _ Kim Accountancy Firm Blast Knocks Out Entire Neighborhood _ . You can understand why I couldn’t just sit back at home. What’s going on, Junmyeon?”

“Luhan, you can’t be here.” Junmyeon just says again. Jongdae can see Baekhyun’s mouth drop open at the name.

“Luhan?  _ The  _ Luhan?” Baekhyun turns to Jongdae. “Isn’t he supposed to be dead?”

Luhan chuckles as he turns to Baekhyun. “Sorry to disappoint you. I’m very much alive.” He then approaches Baekhyun to shake his hand. “Hi, I’m Luhan. And you must be Baekhyun, right?”

Baekhyun just looks at him still in complete shock. It's Luhan who takes his hand and shakes it.

“Minseok always talks to me about you.” Luhan smiles. Jongdae swears Luhan is only trying to act cool but he’s definitely not. His voice trembled slightly at saying Minseok’s name.

Luhan then faces him. “Where the hell is Chanyeol? Isn’t he supposed to have the place secured?”

“We can’t contact him.” Jongdae answers. “We can’t contact Yixing either.”

Luhan looks accusatory at Junmyeon. “What’s going on?”

Junmyeon doesn’t look like he wants to say anything. Jongdae doesn’t  have an answer for Luhan because he doesn’t know what’s going on either, so they all just look at Junmyeon.

“Junmyeon,” Luhan says slowly. “This isn’t the time to keep anything from anyone right now. Jongdae and Baekhyun doesn’t look like they know shit and you’re the only person who can answer me.”

“We were being tailed a few months back.” Junmyeon finally speaks up.

“By who?” Luhan asks.

“By SM.”

Jongdae sees Luhan’s face fall at that.

“I had everyone on high alert.” Junmyeon says at once.

“You didn’t tell me.” Luhan sighs. “Minseok didn’t say anything either.”

“I had everything under control.”

Two firing shots are heard from above in that moment. Jongdae hopes that came from Sehun or Jongin.

“ _This_ is having it under control?” Luhan asks, motioning to the gunshots heard above them.

“Baekhyun was supposed to go on a mission today to tap into their system. It was just to delete their files.” Junmyeon explains.

“Supposed to?” Luhan eyes him.

“Kyungsoo stole the mission and went ahead.” Junmyeon says. Jongdae sees Baekhyun’s eyes widen at that.

“Minseok went too, didn’t he?” Luhan asks.

“Yes.”

Jongdae finally realizes what that footage was all about. Kyungsoo disobeyed a direct order from Junmyeon and stole that mission file. Minseok bumped into him with the same intention, and instead of letting the other go, they both went. SM must’ve known they were going to act, and moved first by blowing their office up to threaten them. Only that this doesn’t seem like a little threat any more.

“Baekhyun is on his way over to them now.” Junmyeon tries to stand but winces. Jongdae helps him back down but he’s too stubborn to listen to him. Luhan frowns as he sees his leg all bandaged up.

“Junmyeon, you need to go to the hospital.” Luhan says.

“I need you to go home first.” Junmyeon replies. “Luhan, if they see your face here-”

“I’m coming with him.” Luhan motions to Baekhyun. 

“Did you not hear a word of what I just said? You can’t be seen.” Junmyeon says angrily.

“Well I can’t sit back at home with my friend and my husband out there.” Luhan shakes his head. “I’m not going home, Junmyeon. And last time I checked you’re a little short handed.”

Junmyeon sighs. “If they find you alive, what we’ve done for the last few years to keep you and the rest safe is for nothing.”

Luhan manages to give him a small smile at that. “I’ll try not to be seen then.”

He motions for Baekhyun and the latter steps down from the stairs and follows him.

“Hey,” Luhan nudges Jongdae’s arm before he leaves. “Keep him safe.”

“I’ll be fine.” Junmyeon replies causing both Luhan and Jongdae to roll their eyes at him.

“Tell that to your leg.”

They both watch as Luhan and Baekhyun hurry down the hallway and disappear.

“They’re going to be fine.” Jongdae assures him, checking on his bandage one more time.

Junmyeon puts his face in his hands and Jongdae’s heart aches a little to see his once strong boss crumble in his very eyes. 

“This is all my fault.” He says, voice muffled from his palms.

Jongdae takes both his hands and lowers them so Junmyeon can see him.

“Hey, stop it. Come on. Sehun and Jongin can handle that upstairs and the rest can handle whatever’s out there too. You have your other car right?”

This time, it’s Junmyeon who gives him a confused look.

“Where are we going?” 

“I’m getting you to a safehouse.”


End file.
